The Springboks will fly to Toulon on Saturday to wrap up their preparations for the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France.

The Boks were based in Corsica for the week following their record 35-7 win over the All Blacks in London on the weekend.

Since winning the World Cup in Japan in 2019 the Boks have had a lot more consistency and this will bode well for the title defence.

Leading into the 2019 World Cup, the Springboks, focus was largely on rebuilding after Rassie Erasmus took over the coaching from Allister Coetzee.

This time around the Boks along with the hosts, France, are considered as the favourites to lift the Webb Ellis Trophy in Paris.

Springbok coach, Jacques Nienaber, told OFM Sport that it would take a squad effort to defend their title.

“When we started this journey in 2018, we knew there would be limited time to prepare for the 2019 World Cup,” said Nienaber.

“We had four years to prepare for this tournament, although we lost one due to the Covid pandemic.

“In that time our focus was largely on building as much squad depth as possible. So, I think that’s the main difference between now and 2019.”

The Springboks will face Scotland next week Sunday in Marseille in their opening game.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport