Frans Malherbe: Boks relishing final dress rehearsals for World Cup

According to veteran Bok prop Frans Malherbe, Saturday's Test at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff is exactly what the team needs to get into prime shape for the global showpiece event, to say nothing of the massive clash against the All Blacks the following weekend.

The Boks will line up against New Zealand in London next Friday in their final warm-up fixture before departing for a week-long training camp in Corsica en route to France, where they will initially be based in Toulon. Their opening match is against Scotland in Marseille on Sunday, 10 September.

"Wales are a quality team with good plans," said Malherbe.

"So, the focus for us will be on doing what we want to do and to execute the things we have been working on as well as we can.

"It's a great opportunity for us face sides like Wales and the All Blacks before the Rugby World Cup so we can improve on the areas we'd like to work on, build form and further develop the way we want to play."

The Springboks received the good news this week that their inspirational captain Siya Kolisi had been cleared to play and will start his first match of the season after having surgery to his knee earlier this year, and Malherbe was pleased to welcome him back.

"It's awesome to have a guy like Siya back," said Malherbe.

"I'm really happy for him. The two of us have come a long way from playing junior rugby together, so it's great to see that he is back on the field."

Malhebe will, in a sense, complete a full circle in his career on Saturday after making his Test debut against Wales in Cardiff in 2013 and he attributed this to hard work: "I've been privileged to have been part of the Boks as long as this and I just want to keep working hard and continue to get the backing of the players."

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