Boks full-steam ahead despite Covid-19 scare

Both the Springbok camp and the Argentinian contingent were forced into quarantine after an unnamed member of the South African group returned a positive test however after a number of other tests it was confirmed to be a false positive.

“We had COVID-19 tests on Saturday, and we got the results on Sunday evening, which is when we were informed that there could be a possible positive test,” Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber said.

“A new test was conducted which returned a negative result, but we had to self-isolate in our rooms for almost a day until we received the result. Fortunately, we were able to return to our rugby programme on Tuesday, and we had two good field sessions and a morning gym session.”

The Springboks will be in the unfamiliar position of not having played their SANZAAR partners in well over a year with the Boks having only played New Zealand at the Rugby World Cup in 2019.

The last time they played Australia was July 2019 when the Boks won 35-17 at Ellis Park.

Nienaber understands the difficulty of not having played them and having been able to see how both the All Blacks and the Wallabies have gone in their winter test matches he has an idea of the difficulty of what’s to come.

“The Rugby Championship is a tough competition.

“It features the best teams in the southern hemisphere, so we are expecting tight matches.

“We missed out on the Rugby Championship last year, so it is exciting to play in the SANZAAR group again, and it will be good to measure where we are against the southern hemisphere teams.”

Neinaber announced that Thomas du Toit has flown home following a family bereavement while RG Snyman didn't travel with the squad due to personal reasons. There won't be any other players called up to the squad so the Bok contingent will remain at 41 players.

The Springboks are back in action when they take on Australia in Gold Coast on 12 September.