Boks get down to business in Adelaide ahead of clash with the Wallabies

The Springboks did not waste any time after arriving in Adelaide on Saturday as they immediately got down to serous business with a gym session to help them recover after their long flight.

Their travel plans were thrown into chaos when their flight from Johannesburg to Sydney was cancelled on Thursday night but they departed for Australia on Friday, forcing coaches and conditioning staff to change the training programme.

The Boks play their first of two Tests against the Wallabies at the Adelaide Oval on Saturday followed by the second match in Sydney on September 3, before turning their attention to two more matches against Argentina next month in Buenos Aires and Durban.

“The players rested well on the plane and everyone is excited to be in Australia and looking forward to our two Tests against the Wallabies,” said Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber.

“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.”

Nienaber added: “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 tomorrow.

“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 our best to start our tour on a positive note.”