Warren Whiteley

Loose forward Warren Whiteley says there’s plenty of excitement in the Springbok squad following the team’s training camp in Cape Town.

The national squad gathered here this week for their 2nd training camp of the year.

While there were plenty of familiar faces running through the drills, head coach Heyneke Meyer called up several new players, who have shown great form during Super Rugby this season.

Whiteley, who made his Test debut for South Africa last year, enjoyed the experience.

“It’s always a massive honour and great experience being part of the national squad,” Whiteley said.

“One gets to catch up with the guys after months of Super Rugby, and start the preparations for what will be an exciting year ahead, including The Rugby Championship and World Cup.

“The World Cup is a massive occasion, which every player wants to be part of. So you can imagine the excitement among the players, especially guys like Cheslin Kolbe and Faf de Klerk, who have shown great form this season and I’m glad they’ve received reward for their hard work.

“There’s always a lot of energy in the national squad, but with the new guys involved, there’s that extra spark brought to the field.”

Whiteley and his Lions team-mates returned to Johannesburg on Wednesday morning as they rejoined the camp to prepare for their Super Rugby clash against the Stormers in Cape Town on Saturday.

While a victory in their last league fixture will keep their playoff hopes alive, Whiteley stressed that the Lions are just focusing on a good performance this weekend.

“There are many things that will need to happen going into the final 2 Rounds of Super Rugby, so we’re not putting too much focus on the playoffs at this stage. We have 1 fixture left against the Stormers, so we want to end off our league campaign with a strong performance,” said Whiteley.

“Both teams will want the win to continue their momentum. The Stormers played really well last weekend and they’d want to keep that up. We probably played the best game of our season against the Waratahs, so the guys are pretty confident going into Saturday’s match.

“All the factors suggest it’s going to be an amazing game.”

Sport24