Extra training for Boks

In what turned out to be centre Marius Joubert's first, and probably only, training run of the week, the Springboks decided to fit in an extra practice session on Thursday. The Boks face the Wallabies in a crucial Vodacom Tri-Nations match at the Subiaco Oval in Perth on Saturday.

Back on the pitch: Marius Joubert

Joubert, who injured his shoulder in a tackle late in the 23-21 loss to the All Blacks last week, has been unable to train all week, as the medical staff worked feverishly on the injury to have him for to face the Wallabies.

On Wednesday he was named in the team - with Bok coach Jake White giving an assurance that he would play, even though he has not trained at all this week.

But on Thursday White called an unscheduled training session to ensure that Joubert was given an opportunity to run with the side ahead of Saturday's clash. In earlier practice sessions this week Jean de Villiers had been running at centre and Gaffie du Toit on the wing ... the positions they would have played in had Joubert not been cleared to play.

Thursday is traditionally a training free day for the Boks, but this week they were called out for an extra run.

White also felt there was a need to work on some other aspects of their game, apart from giving Joubert a run with the team.

"I want to ensure that we get right those areas of our game that didn't go well against New Zealand. The guys haven't quite been on par [this week]," White said.

The Bok coach said that ball control was one of the aspects they focussed on at the training session.

"This week we want to be ruthless when we get the ball," White said. "The easy thing would be to say we lost and people back home are happy that we went so close. Our expectation is to see if we have enough character to play at a certain level from one week to the next."