Springboks statement: Squad finally in Adelaide after travel delay

Jacques Nienaber’s Springboks have finally touched down in Adelaide reportedly in high spirits after their original travel plan for the away leg of the Rugby Championship was disrupted on Thursday by flight cancellation. South Africa have two matches to play against the Wallabies, starting on August 27. 

An SA Rugby statement read: “The Springboks touched down in Adelaide on Saturday in high spirits for the away leg of the Castle Lager Rugby Championship following their journey from Johannesburg on Friday and they immediately got down to business with a recovery gym session later in the afternoon.

“The Boks’ original flight from Johannesburg to Sydney was cancelled on Thursday night due to complications relating to flight staff, but the squad departed for Australia at midday on Friday, with the coaches and conditioning staff swiftly adapting the team’s training programme.

“The Boks arrived in Sydney early on Saturday morning and then made the short trip to Adelaide - with a warm welcome from SA supporters awaiting the squad at the airport - where they will play their first of two Tests against the Wallabies at the Adelaide Oval on Saturday, August 27.

“The team wasted no time getting into the swing of things with a gym session lined up for Saturday afternoon and another Sunday, while they will resume full field training sessions on Monday.

“South Africa face the Wallabies in their second Test in Sydney on Saturday, September 3, before taking on Argentina in two Tests, in Buenos Aires (September 17) and Durban (September 24) respectively.” Coach Nienaber added: “The players rested well on the plane and everyone is excited to be in Australia are looking forward to our two Tests against the Wallabies.

“I must commend our operational staff for the swift manner in which they dealt with the cancellation of our original flight and for making things as simple as possible for the team to hop onto the next available flight. The professional manner in which the situation was dealt with resulted in minimal disruption to our programme, which is certainly pleasing from a coaching perspective.

“The team will have flush-out gym sessions in the next two days to recover from the travel and we will follow our usual Test week programme from Sunday. This is going to be a massive week for us and everyone understands the importance of ensuring that they recover as well as possible so that we can train full-out on Monday as we look to get our Castle Lager Rugby Championship campaign back on track.

“We haven’t beaten Australia at home since 2013, so we are under no illusions about the challenge that lies ahead. We will have to be at best to start our tour on a positive note,” concluded the coach whose squad of 34 for rounds three and four arrived in Australia having won and lost in recent weeks to the All Blacks at home in South Africa to start the tournament.