From no-hopers to favourites: How defending champion Boks' fortunes have changed in four years

The Springboks' Rugby World Cup preparations concluded in the hot and humid climes of the Mediterranean island of Corsica, much like they applied the finishing touches for 2019 in similar conditions in Japan.

If they were hoping for signs that their toil may result in similarly handsome reward to four years ago, the clammy nature of the surroundings at the world champions' training base would have been one of them. But looking at the circumstances around the two campaigns, they couldn't be more different.

The Springboks roll into Toulon, their base ahead of their Group B tournament opener against Scotland, on Sunday as one of the tournament favourites. That was not the case in Japan, where they arrived as seventh-ranked no-hopers who ended up making off with the Webb Ellis Cup after the mother of all smash and grabs.

"The main thing is, when we started in 2018, there was very little time in terms of getting prepared for that World Cup. I think there were 18 Test matches," said Bok head coach Jacques Nienaber, taking a stab at zeroing in on the main difference between four years ago and now.

"This time around we've had four years [to prepare], with one year [2020] unfortunately taken away by Covid. Our main aim was to get as much squad depth as we could because we believe defending the World Cup will take a squad effort.

"That's what we were trying to do, create as much squad depth as we possibly could, that's probably the [main difference]."

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The Boks' show of depth has been a talking point for over a year now.

Ox Nche, Jean Kleyn, Marvin Orie, Deon Fourie, Jasper Wiese, Jaden Hendrikse, Grant Williams, Manie Libbok, Kurt-Lee Arendse and