South Africa have arrived on the French mainland ready to defend their World Cup crown.
Since beating New Zealand at Twickenham ten days ago, the World Champions have been training on the island of Corsica. But they have finished with their preperation work and on Saturday they took an overnight ferry to Toulon, where they will be based for the initial parts of the tournament.
Speaking to the media on arrival, coach Jacques Nienaber said: “We had a great ferry trip, which was a unique experience for the team, and we are thrilled to finally be in Toulon for the World Cup.
“It was an overnight trip, so the players managed to get good rest and we are now officially in World Cup mode.
“We ticked the boxes we wanted to from a training perspective in Corsica and we’ll return to the field raring to go on Tuesday.
“It feels surreal to be here. We’ve been working toward this goal for four years and we are now officially one week away from playing our first match.
“There’s a lot of excitement in the group and the team is completely aligned in terms of what we have to do if we want to be successful in France.”
SA open their World Cup campaign in a week, when they tackle Pool B rivals, Scotland, the fifth ranked team in the world, at Stade de Marseille.
“We said from the outset that we would approach the tournament one match at a time, and the hard work behind the scenes to prepare for the Scotland clash started in Corsica already,” added Nienaber.
“They are ranked fifth in the world, and we know what they are capable of, so it’s vital that we hit the ground running from our first training session.
“Fortunately, the players are used to the heat and humidity after training in these conditions in Corsica, so we are pleased with our preparations and can’t wait to begin the tournament.”
