IN THE EIGHT years of rugby’s Under 20 World Championship, the Junior Springboks have only finished outside the top three once.
The 2012 winners and 2014 runners-up are preparing for next month’s tournament in Italy, and have put together this incredible video showing the extent they’re going to with their preparations.
Head coach Dave Theron describes the detailed scouting done on the players as they progress through their school and clubs, and talks us through their dedicated Stellenbosch Academy for Sport, showing off the training pitches, gym, swimming pool, while conditioning coach Warren Adams talks about the specific training, and GPS monitoring they use.
As, well as keeping their bodies in tip-top shape, they also have a sports scientist who makes sure their minds are equally fit.
By her own description, she’s “training their eyes, their brains and their bodies to make more effective decisions on the pitch”. Here’s one player taking some brain training below.
On top of that, there’s the usual collection of doctors, physios and coaches, and if the video is anything to go by, they’ll likely be a force to be reckoned with in Italy next month.