Springboks go scouting Down Under as 2027 World Cup plans gather pace

Team manager Charles Wessels revealed that a possible base has already been earmarked, and that attention is now turning to final approval and more in-depth logistical planning.

“I have identified a base in Australia and would like to confirm it as soon as possible,” Wessels revealed to Rapport.

“I will lead a group of Springbok management members on an inspection tour in the first week of April to identify exactly what our preference will be in terms of hotels, training facilities and how we will travel during the tournament.”

Drawing on lessons from the 2023 World Cup, Wessels highlighted the importance of meticulous planning around travel and training.

“Our planning is very important to make sure we make it as easy as possible for the team to stick to their training programme,” Wessels said.

“At the 2023 World Cup we sometimes travelled to training by boat and moved between cities by train. We will certainly think through everything again to make travel between cities as easy and quick as possible for the team.”

Erasmus and his squad are set to arrive in Australia a couple of weeks before the start of the tournament.

The Springboks did not have a single fixed base camp in Japan for the 2019 World Cup, instead using a pre-tournament holding camp in Kagoshima followed by stays in the Tokyo area during the tournament, while in France four years later they established a primary base in Toulon for most of the 2023 campaign.

They arrived in Toulon on 3 September after a pre-tournament camp in Corsica, just one week before their opener against Scotland.