Brendan Venter says the Springboks’ three-day training camp in Stellenbosch will primarily be driven around defence and exits.

Venter, who earned 17 Test caps for South Africa and has occupied various coaching consultancy roles, is set to be announced as the Bok defence coach ahead of the three-Test series against France in June.

In his column for The Times, Venter said South Africa’s defence has regressed because local Super Rugby franchises have placed greater emphasis on attack.

‘South African teams have historically been resolute on defence. But with a considerable amount of time and energy invested in attack, particularly during pre-season, a ball-in-hand approach has become the order of the day.

‘While our teams’ attacking play has improved dramatically after five rounds of Super Rugby, all of a sudden our defence has gone backwards. The dilemma is that when you place too much emphasis on one facet of play another department suffers as a result.

‘The Bulls and the Cheetahs leaked a combined total of 10 tries last weekend and were on the wrong end of the scoreboard owing to their approach.

‘Meanwhile the Stormers conceded a number of soft tries against the Sunwolves. However, in their defence, they have been decimated by injury this season, especially across their backline. To date, the Stormers haven’t been afforded the luxury of picking the same personnel, which is why they’ve been poor on defence.

‘Continuity in selection is critical when it comes to implementing an effective defensive system.’

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