CAPE TOWN – South Africa’s three training camps in preparation for England’s tour next month have given Heyneke Meyer plenty of confidence, the Springbok coach said on Thursday.

The three-test tour which starts on June 9 in Durban will be Meyer’s first in charge of the Springboks and he will be pressed for time to prepare as the majority of his squad will be involved in Super Rugby until the week before the first test.

But Meyer, who held training camps with 104 players in which he had one-on-one discussions with each player, said he was pleased with the situation.

“To go into the series against England with the amount of base work we’ve done, is something I didn’t foresee and it gives me a great deal of confidence for next month,” Meyer said in a statement.

“It was always going to be a big ask to start from scratch with less than a week before we face the English, but these camps helped a lot in allaying some of the concerns I’ve had,” he added.

The South African Rugby Union also confirmed that Johann van Graan (forwards), Ricardo Loubscher (backs) and John McFarland (defence) would form part of Meyer’s support staff.

Basil Carzis has been appointed as conditioning coach and Ian Schwartz will be the team manager.

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