Springboks gear up for title defence with eye on Wallabies clash

THERE'S an old story, maybe it's a South African urban legend, but I once overheard someone tell it very convincingly, with real passion and conviction.

- LANCE FREDERICKS

He said that the big Sunday meal tradition in South Africa came from the Anglo-Boer War, when the Boers would sometimes go home to their families for a week away from the front. Then, prior to their return to battle, the wife or mother would cook a big meal, with rice and roasts and stews and baked goods and puddings.

The intention was to treat their brave son, husband or father to a good home-cooked feast, but the other reason was that they could send him off with some provisions, seeing as he would be eating rations like biltong and biscuits for quite a while. Also, with a good meal in your body, you'd have fire in your belly and - according to the legend I heard - you'd be more effective on the field of battle.

I wonder if that legend was on Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus’s mind when he scheduled things so that the Springboks will wrap up the first week of their training camp on Thursday afternoon and spend the weekend with their families, before reassembling in Johannesburg on Sunday to continue their on-field preparations.