Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)
- Bok coach Jacques Nienaber says they aren’t on the island of Corsica for a holiday, but “a proper training camp”.
- The world champions are bracing for knockout rugby from the outset at the World Cup in France.
- The Boks will arrive at their World Cup training base in Toulon on Saturday.
- For more sports news, go to the News24 Sport front page.
The Springboks are in knockout mode as they prepare for the Rugby World Cup on the island of Corsica, southeast of the French mainland.
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The world champions arrived in Corsica last Saturday after thumping the All Blacks 35-7 at Twickenham the previous day.
The players got down to business on Monday with their training programme.
The Boks are in a tough Pool B which also features Scotland, Ireland, Romania and Tonga, with coach Jacques Nienaber stressing the importance of hitting the ground running against the Scots in Marseille on Sunday, 10 September.
“It’s not a holiday, it’s a proper training camp,” Nienaber said in a statement released by the Boks.
“There are a lot of things we need to work on because we are in a knockout pool from game one, so there’s a lot we need to get right if we want to be competitive and defend the World Cup title.
“From a rugby perspective, we can work hard here and can prepare, and from a team perspective it’s nice for us to meet and mix with the people of Corsica.”
Looking ahead at their tough World Cup pool, the Bok mentor added: “In our pool, Scotland is No 5 in the world, South Africa No 2 and Ireland No 1, and one of us is not going to make it out of the pool. But it is what it is, so we have to be on form from the outset.
“And if we do get out of the pool, we’ll either face France or New Zealand in the quarter-final, so it’s going to be really tough.”
After their comprehensive win over New Zealand, many pundits have tipped South Africa as favourites for the World Cup, but Nienaber has shot down those claims.
“I think France are the favourites, but obviously we are the world champions, and we can’t deny that. That said, I believe this is going to be one of the most closely contested World Cups in history with a couple of teams that can win it on the day.”
The Springboks will wrap up their training camp in Corsica on Friday and make their way via a 10-and-a-half-hour ferry journey to their World Cup training base in Toulon on Saturday.