Springboks take the game to the community with open training in Belhar

On Wednesday, South African rugby lovers were treated to a national spectacle when the World Champion Springboks hosted their first open training session in nine years at the Erica Sports Grounds in Belhar, Cape Town.

The Boks are currently in the Mother City where they are preparing for their second test against Australia, a team with which they have a score to settle following their recent 38-22 defeat at Emirates Airline Park in Johannesburg.

Upon arrival, coach Rassie Erasmus and his men were greeted by a sea of green and gold supporters; all of whom were eager to see their rugby heroes live in action. Among the fan-favourites were Cape Town’s very own Cheslin Kolbe, Damian Willemse, Manie Libbok as well as fellow Stormers playmaker Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.

The initiative was part of the South African Rugby Union’s (SARU’s) mission to bring the sport closer to the community – and it was certainly one that the fans were appreciative of.

In recent months, there has been a big uproar from the public that the Springboks were inaccessible to the average person. This is due to the rising prices of tickets to see the Boks live in action, which go as high as R5000 per ticket, per person.

Despite the recent setback, the locals are convinced that training at the Erica Sports Grounds served as all the motivation the Boks need to turn their fate around in the upcoming match this weekend.

In conversation with news publication EyeWitnessNews (EWN), one fan said: “With training and motivation here in Belhar today, they can definitely muster up some good courage to pull out a win on Saturday,” while another supporter added, “They’ll fix what they got wrong and the score will be in our favour.”

This Saturday will see Jesse Kriel return to captaincy in the absence of Siya Kolisi, who injured himself in Johannesburg.

Also see: Inside the Springboks’ first session of the year