Springbok captain Siya Kolisi runs with the ball during a training session at Hamiltons Rugby Club in Cape Town Springbok captain Siya Kolisi runs with the ball during a training session at Hamiltons Rugby Club in Cape Town. Photo: Shaun Roy/BackpagePix
Cape Town — Would you watch the Springboks take on Bafana Bafana in a soccer match?
Considering the skills shown by the rugby team on Friday, maybe it is something that should be arranged!
The world champions wrapped up the second week of their training camp in Cape Town on Friday with a game of football at the Hamilton Rugby Club in Green Point, and for such big men, they didn’t do too badly.
In a video posted on the Boks’ social media pages, there was some nifty footwork — as can be expected — from wing Makazole Mapimpi as he tried to dummy hooker Bongi Mbonambi, while classy centre Lukhanyo Am operated in his usual smooth style as a central midfielder.
But the most unlikely figure, tighthead prop Frans Malherbe, produced arguably the finest touch of the short clip as he trapped the ball smartly with his right foot before finding Mapimpi on the inside with a clever left-footed pass.
The Bok speedster got to the ball in time, but was dispossessed by another prop, Ox ‘N’golo Kante’ Nche in true defensive midfield style, and he nudged the ball onto Canan Moodie.
It was a fun end to a gruelling week on the training pitch for the 14 players, with one particularly exhausting session on Clifton beach in Camps Bay, where the players had to run up a hill and also engaged in a touch rugby game.
It led to some Bok fans calling for a showdown between the rugby team and Bafana…
“This squad can beat Bafana 5-0,” said @king_ntozi on Instagram, while @nkululeko_nhlapho added “That pass from Franna was crazy”.
The players will take a break for the rest of Friday and Saturday, and join up again on Sunday in Stellenbosch for the final week of training before returning to their franchises.
The first Bok Test of the year will be on July 8 in the Rugby Championship clash against the Wallabies at Loftus Versfeld, while the Rugby World Cup starts in September in France.
“It has been great to see the players’ attitude and their application of what we’ve been working through,” Bok coach Jacques Nienaber said on Friday.
“Our focus in the first week was mainly on the rugby fundamentals and building a base from a physical point of view. This week, we built on that by working on more specific rugby conditioning to add the off-field alignment sessions.
“We’ll close off the camp in Stellenbosch late next week, where we plan to step up the intensity of our field sessions and build on what we achieved this week.
“We have six Test matches before the Rugby World Cup, and then we face the massive task of trying to defend our title, so every opportunity we receive to work with the players is of importance.
“This camp has been extremely beneficial in that it offered us the opportunity to fine tune the fundamentals of our game, build greater alignment in terms of our structures and get the players back into shape after a well-deserved rest period.
“There’s a little over six months left before the international showpiece, and we need to make every minute count on and off the field to ensure that we achieve the goals we set out and peak at the right time.”
Springbok Training Squad
Steven Kitshoff, Ox Nche, Bongi Mbonambi, Frans Malherbe, Thomas du Toit, Eben Etzebeth, Marvin Orie, Siya Kolisi, Jaden Hendrikse, Damian Willemse, Lukhanyo Am, Makazole Mapimpi, Canan Moodie, Kurt-Lee Arendse.
IOL Sport