Jacques Nienaber says he is actively on the lookout for players in their prime as the Springboks plan for what is expected to be a challenging 2022 season.
The Springboks will start the 2022 campaign by hosting Wales in a first-ever three-Test series between the two nations in South Africa in July.
Encounters are scheduled for the first three Saturdays in July in Pretoria, Bloemfontein and Cape Town respectively.
The Springboks will then move on to their Rugby Championship campaign in August, which includes two home games against the All Blacks.
Speaking to the SA Rugby Podcast, Nienaber said their planning is on track for the coming season.
“We’ve got a tough schedule this year, which is what you want a year before the Rugby World Cup, facing some big opponents and basically playing all the top teams in the world,” said the Bok coach.
“Since the end of last year, we’ve done a recce to France to check out some possible bases for the Rugby World Cup, we’ve reviewed the 2021 season and now we getting ready for the current season with some alignment camps planned for April.
“From our perspective, it’s a blank canvas – we’re looking for players who are knocking the door down, and the guys who played last year know they have to perform to remain in the squad.”
Looking ahead to the 2023 World World Cup, Nienaber added that the squad was in a good position with regard to the balance between age and experience.
“Some people might think we have an old squad, but on average our players are 27, 28 years old, and they will be 29 at the RWC. Previous teams that have won the World Cup had an average age of between 27 and 29,” Nienaber said.
“What people do see is that we have a lot of experience – last year, our squad had more than 1300 Test caps, and while we were very experienced, we were not necessarily old, so I think our sweet spot regarding experience versus age is perfect.”
Nienaber confirmed the Bok squad for the Welsh series will probably be announced towards the end of May, before they start with a series of conditioning camps in June.
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