Boks enjoying Corsica vibes as final World Cup preparations begin

By SABC Sport
29th August 2023

Springbok duo Cobus Reinach and Manie Libbok said the players are excited to get their Rugby World Cup campaign into higher gear after arriving on the Mediterranean island of Corsica.

The Boks are set to spend a few more days in the Corsica sunshine fine-tuning their preparations for the upcoming international showpiece.

The players landed on Saturday and had time off until Monday to rest and recover following their record-breaking 35-7 victory over the All Blacks at Twickenham.

They returned to the training field on Monday in hot and humid conditions, which Reinach believes will benefit them immensely before they travel to their RWC warm-up base in Toulon.

"Corsica has been good so far," said Reinach.

"The weather is unbelievable and very different to London. It's good to finally get here and get used to the conditions we are going to face in France.

"It's a little humid. When we first arrived, we had to shower a few times, so it's something we have to get used to."

Springbok flyhalf Manie Libbok also spoke of the conditions, saying: "It's hot over here, but it's good for our preparation because we are expecting similar conditions in Toulon."

Libbok added: "It's a unique and beautiful island, and we are enjoying being here. This is an important week for us, and we are looking forward to getting our preparations in place for the match against Scotland."

With the team's opening RWC encounter less than two weeks away, Reinach said the players were excited about the challenge and were raring to go.

"It's been a long wait with a lot of games in between with the Castle Lager Rugby Championship and our warm-up matches," said Reinach.

"But the boys are very eager and excited to get started. We had our first training session on Monday, and you could see the energy is there and everyone is very excited."

Both Libbok and Reinach echoed Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber's sentiments that although the victory against New Zealand gave them confidence, it didn't offer the team much more than that, as the results that count will be at the World Cup.

"The clash against New Zealand was good, but it doesn't count for anything," said Reinach. "The Rugby World Cup only starts now. Each game from now on is important, and there's still a lot of work to be done."

The Springboks will kick off their RWC campaign on Sunday, 10 September against Scotland in Marseille, and will meet Romania (17 September), Ireland (23 September) and Tonga (1 October) in their remaining pool matches in Bordeaux, Paris, and Marseille respectively.