The Proteas management team shadowed the Springboks during the first day of their second alignment camp in Cape Town on Thursday.
The Springboks kicked off their second alignment camp in Cape Town on Thursday, with Rassie Erasmus and his assistant coaches entertaining a few special guests in Proteas head coach Shukri Conrad and Cricket South Africa’s (CSA) High Performance management team.
The national cricket team’s management joined the morning sessions in a shadowing capacity as they prepare for the ICC World Test Championship final against Australia in London.
Also in attendance were the entire SA Rugby Elite Referees Panel for the full day’s proceedings in an observation capacity.
Season plan
Erasmus and his right-hand men started the day reiterating the team values, while also zoning in on the areas of the game they intend to focus on this season during a series of boardroom sessions with the locally-based players at the team hotel, and a host of overseas-based players virtually.
The Springboks will launch their 2025 season on the final Saturday of June against the Barbarians in Cape Town, before welcoming Italy and Georgia for the Incoming Series.
Following that the Boks will look to defend their Rugby Championship title against southern rivals the All Blacks, Australia and Argentina, before wrapping up the season with the traditional end-of-the-year tour.
“One could sense the excitement and enthusiasm among the players and coaches to be back together, and to align on our objectives and plans for the season,” said Erasmus after the first days activities.
“It was also great to have the new additions to the squad, Vincent Tshituka and Ntokozo Makhaza, at the camp, as well as Juarno Augustus, who was one of the players invited to join online, where they were exposed to our structures for the first time.
“They gelled in quickly, and it was encouraging to see how they soaked up the information presented to them.”
Learn from eachother
The Bok coach was also delighted to welcome Conrad and his key personnel to the camp, and said their presence served as a fine example of how South Africa’s national teams could learn from one another as they all strive for success on the international stage.
“Shukri and his team have a massive assignment coming up in the ICC World Test Championship against Australia at Lords in a little under three weeks, and we hope that inviting him and his management team to our alignment camp will assist them as they put the final touches in place for the extravaganza against Australia next month,” said Erasmus.
“I firmly believe in having our national coaches working together and sharing ideas, as we all have the same goal in mind – to make the country proud – so we are thrilled that they took time out of their busy schedules to spend the day with us.
“Hopefully, we can see a lot more collaboration between all our national coaches in the future.”
