Africa-Press – South-Africa. The Springboks have selected Toulon as their base for the pool stages of the Rugby World Cup in 2023 in France.
South Africa will also be based in Paris for a week leading into the third pool match against Ireland at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis.
Jacques Nienaber’s men will defend their title with the tournament scheduled to kick off from 8 September until 28 October.
As defending champions and the current top-ranked team on the World Rugby rankings, South Africa had a selection of three potential bases in the south of France.
Following a thorough inspection of the options by Nienaber and the team’s head of operations, Charles Wessels, a decision was made to select the city on the Mediterranean coast as their preferred base for the international extravaganza.
The Springboks are in Pool B and will start their campaign off against Scotland (10 September) at Stade Vélodrome in Marseille before facing Spain at Stade de Bordeaux (17 September), Ireland at Stade de France in Saint-Denis (23 September) and the top qualifier from the Asia/Pacific region in Marseille (1 October) in the pool stages.
South Africa will spend 28 days in Toulon, setting up base at Grand Hotel Des Sablettes-Page, which is a swift 24-minute journey from Toulon Rugby Club’s RCT campus.
“Toulon Rugby Club’s RCT campus hosts some of the best training and team facilities in the regions we visited… The facility is excellent, housing a high-performance gym, and indoor synthetic pitch, outdoor pitch, fixed cameras to assist with our technical analysis, recovery facilities as well as a fully equipped kitchen and dining area,” said Nienaber.
“So, in a sense, it is a one-stop-shop providing everything we need to ensure that our training sessions are as efficient as possible.
“With 18 months to go before the Rugby World Cup kicks off, this announcement has certainly added to the excitement about the journey ahead.”
Pending the Boks’ progress, they will switch their base to Paris for the remainder of the tournament, as two quarter-finals, the semi-finals and final, will play out nearby at Stade de France.
“We trained in Paris for a week before our year-end tour last season, so we have a good idea of what to expect in the country’s capital for the week leading up to the Ireland pool match and the final stages of the competition depending on our progress in the Rugby World Cup,” said Nienaber.
“For now, however, our focus remains on the season ahead, and every match we play will be vital in our preparation for the Rugby World Cup.
“We are currently putting the building blocks in place to get the season off to a strong start, and we intend to make the most of each opportunity on the field as we look ahead to next year’s showpiece.”
The Springboks will kick off their 2022 season with three Tests against Wales in Pretoria (2 July), Bloemfontein (9 July), and Cape Town (16 July).
South Africa will then host the All Blacks in Nelspruit and Johannesburg (Saturday, 6 and 13 August) and Argentina in Durban (Saturday, 24 September) in their Rugby Championship home Tests.
The Boks will play two away Rugby Championship Tests against Australia (Saturday, 27 August and 3 September, respectively) and one against Argentina in Buenos Aires on Saturday, 17 September.
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