Springbok Captain Siya Kolisi and Coach Jacques Nienaber.

• Superb summer weather greeted the Springboks on their arrival in Toulon ahead of their Rugby World Cup opener against Scotland, which will be played on Sunday.
• Jacques Nienaber's side spent last week in Corsica before ferrying through from the island to their hotel base in La Seyne-sur-Mer.
• Nienaber said the Boks will have to adapt to the heat, but it's something Scotland will have to do too when they come to the south of France.
• For more sports news, go to the News24 Sports front page.

Summer may slowly be on its way out in Europe as the autumn equinox approaches, but the working-class naval town of Toulon gave the Springboks as summery a day as they could when the South Africans arrived for their World Cup sojourn on Sunday.

The Boks had spent last week in Corsica, the birthplace of French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte, in a training camp before shifting to the luxurious seaside Hotel Grand des Sablettes, where they will be based ahead of Sunday's World Cup opener against Scotland in Marseille.

The Boks' hotel, equipped with a gym and spacious rooms, overlooks a beautiful beach in La Seyne-sur-Mer, while Springbok insignia is already up and fluttering with South African flags dotted here and there.

One of the pictures at the Toulon train station is that of Springbok captain Siya Kolisi and Trevor Nyakane. 

The Boks had travelled the 330km from Corsica via ferry, and it shouldn't come as a surprise if they use the ferry to practice this week.

READ | Toulon in pictures | Why Boks will base themselves here for World Cup defence

The Boks will be training at the Stade Mayol, home of Toulon Rugby Club, which is a stone's throw away from the harbour and naval base before they travel the 65km west to the port city of Marseille, where temperatures peak at 34 degrees Celsius, for the Scotland game on Sunday.

The Boks, especially those who play their rugby in South Africa, will be accustomed to warm-weather rugby with the oval-ball sport now firmly a summer pastime with the season running from September to May.

Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber said adapting to the heat of coastal southern France before heading to the cooler climes of Bordeaux (they play Romania on 17 September) and then Paris (Ireland, 23 September) will take some getting used to.

The Boks finish their Pool B campaign against Tonga in Marseille on 1 October before moving to Paris, should they advance to the quarter-finals and beyond.

"I know it's something we'll have to get used to," Nienaber said.

"I know, from a conditioning perspective, if there's a five-to-six-degree elevation in temperature, there is some adjustment the body needs to make.

"When Scotland played France, they also had a training camp in the south, so, they would've been introduced to the heat in the same way that we did."

READ | RWC 2023: Coach Nienaber not fazed by Springboks' recent stuttering World Cup starts

The Boks didn't have any visible injuries from their Wales and New Zealand warm-up game period, which had claimed some big names in some of the other World Cup teams.

The Boks did, however, lose centre Lukhanyo Am to a knee injury against Argentina on 5 August, which saw him miss out on World Cup selection.

Nienaber did confess to some aches and pains since the All-Black encounter at Twickenham, but he added they managed to get through most of their sessions with 31 or 32 players.

"The All Black Test is always a physical encounter, as most Test matches are, so there were a couple of bumps and bruises," Nienaber said.

READ | 'Facing Scotland a final for us,' says Bok star Kolbe

"We've managed them in the way the medical team would have allowed us to manage them, but the majority of the guys are fit to play.

"Some of the guys had one session, some of the guys didn't have full contact because they may have had a niggle here and there.

"However, we operated as normal, so, in the majority of the team, we had 31 to 32 players operating."

Nienaber will announce the Springbok squad on Friday and kick-off for Sunday's opening World Cup game against Scotland is at 17:45.

Khanyiso Tshwaku is in Toulon where he is following the Springboks on their 2023 Rugby World Cup journey for News24.