News

Boks to have minimal prep time

September 23 2008

The Springbok side for the end-of-year tour will be announced after the Currie Cup final - and coach Peter de Villiers will, therefore, have less than two weeks to prepare South Africa for the three Tests.

No official communication on the date of the team announcement has been forthcoming from SARU (South African Rugby Union), but it has been learnt that the side will assemble after the weekend of the Currie Cup final on October 25 and depart for Wales the following Friday.

Effectively that means that De Villiers will have less than a week's training at home and a full week before the Test against Wales in Cardiff on November 8.

The Springboks play Tests against Wales, Scotland and England on November 8, 15 and 22 respectively. Plans for a fourth Test against Ireland have been shelved.

There has also been no formal communication from SARU on the composition of the side, but De Villiers has previously intimated that, with the Test series against the British and Irish Lions next year in mind, the touring squad could be without a number of senior players, some of whom have played in as many as ten Tests this season.