'It's an elite photo': Bongi Mbonambi reflects on shredded 2019 Springboks

The Boks hit the headlines ahead of the 2019 Rugby World Cup when an image surfaced of the majority of the squad posing without shirts on, many of them sporting six-packs and looking in peak condition.

This was after a gruelling training camp, spearheaded by former strength and conditioning coach Aled Walters, who now works with Ireland.

The image led many to suggest that the Springboks were using steroids in the build-up to the World Cup and was used as the headline photo in the Telegraph's article that slammed the significant drop in South Africa's drug-testing numbers.

Furthermore, Ireland great Stephen Ferris posted the picture on social media platform X, formerly Twitter, at the time, and many of the comments featured syringes, GIFs of Lance Armstrong, and suggestions that they should all be tested.

Speaking on the For the Love of Rugby SA podcast, Steven Kitshoff, Bongi Mbonambi, and Trevor Nyakane reflected on that pre-tournament camp and what the coaches put them through.

"Something about 2019 that no one actually talks about is how tough that pre-season was with Aled Walters," Kitshoff said, kicking off the conversation.

"Boys were losing three or four kilos a day!"

That sparked a reaction from both Mbonambi and Nyakane. "Lord have mercy," the former remarked with the latter adding, "Boys had six packs in the front-row!"

"Aled did a job hey," Mbonambi continued. "2019 was special and as you said, pre-season was absolutely madness. It was brutal."

Usually, players aren't keen to get into the ice baths for recovery, but during camp, the coaches didn't need to ask twice, according to the two props, particularly because of how much weight the players were shedding during the sessions.

"The boys spent more time in ice baths than they did on the field," Kitshoff remarked.

Nyakane added, "They didn't even have to ask us to get into the ice baths. We ran into the ice bath because you're burning out. You've lost a couple of kilograms just from training, and you are dehydrated."

"Remember the photo we took in the gym? That's an elite photo," Mbonambi said. "That was pure hard work."

The hooker believes that the camp was used as a test for the players to see who would break and who wouldn't.

"I think Aled was trying to break a few guys there. They were trying to see who was going to break, who was going to give up. And no one did," he said.

"The best thing about that group is that we just stuck it out. It wasn't enjoyable."

"People say that they have this hell week; we had the same thing," Nyakane added, while Kitshoff added that "It wasn't good for our health or future."

The trio of double World Cup winners believes that it set the tone for the Springboks' culture as the players and staff became win-obsessed.

"What Rassie [Erasmus], Jacques [Nienaber], and the whole coaching staff did back then is that they would challenge you and would see if you accepted the challenge and ended up with us winning. That's what our thing was," Mbonambi explained.

"When it started, we said 'You can have all these things, sing all these songs, wear all these kits, but we were win-obsessed.

"Rassie brought that culture in; you had to be obsessed with winning. If you lose, you have to be professional about it and accept it, learn from it, but your obsession is winning."

"And that's how you build that culture," Nyakane concluded.

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