The Springboks start their season against the Wallabies on Saturday 20 July at Emirates Airline Park in Johannesburg (tickets available here), and then board a plane the following day to travel to Wellington in New Zealand for match against the All Blacks on 27 July in the Westpac Stadium.

The much-anticipated game is a rematch of last year’s epic encounter between the two great rivals at the Cake Tin, when the Springboks defeated the All Blacks 36-34 in a classic match after leading 24-17 at half-time.

This year’s Caste Lager Rugby Championship is a shortened version of the regular competition because of the Rugby World Cup tournament, that kicks off in Japan in September.

Meanwhile on Monday the Springboks training squad of 40 players - which includes three uncapped players in Lizo Gqoboka (prop), Rynardt Elstadt (looseforward) and Herschel Jantjies (scrumhalf) - continued with their comprehensive preparations for the international season under the watchful eye of the Bok coaching and conditioning staff.

Daily on-field rugby sessions take place at the Loftus Versfeld rugby fields, while the players also make use of the gymnasium adjacent to the training fields.

Whilst at the training camp, the players also participate in various PR activities which are designed to promote the forthcoming international season, especially their only two home Tests, which will be staged in Johannesburg and Pretoria, against Argentina on Saturday 17 August (buy tickets here), respectively.

Two weeks ago the players took to the airwaves to promote awareness of SA Rugby’s Faces on Numbers campaign - find out more by clicking here.

Several Springboks will also take part in the team’s seasonal launch event on Thursday at the team’s hotel in Pretoria, while Rassie Erasmus, the SA Rugby Director of Rugby, will announce the Springbok match 23 for the Wallabies Test next Thursday.

The Wallabies arrived in South Africa on Sunday evening and will spend the first week of their preparations at Sun City.