Erasmus hedges his bets with old heads
SQUAD ANNOUNCEMENT: Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus stuck to the players who did duty for the team in their opening two Rugby Championship matches against Australia for their tour to New Zealand, where they will play back-to-back Tests against the All Blacks next month.
A total of 36 of the 38 players in last week’s squad retained their places in the group for the second leg of their campaign.
The Boks will battle it out with the All Blacks at Eden Park in Auckland on Saturday, September 6.
The following week, on September 13, at the Wellington Regional Stadium, the old foes will meet again in the second of two matches that will be crucial as the team seeks to defend the Rugby Championship title they won for the first time since 2019 last season.
With wings Kurt-Lee Arendse and Edwill van der Merwe injured, Makazole Mapimpi, who joined the team in Cape Town last week, will make the trip to Aotearoa, while the only forward from the squad that faced Australia to miss out on selection was utility forward Cobus Wiese, who has been placed on standby.
The squad contains 20 forwards and 16 backs. No.8 Jasper Wiese, however, is still currently serving a suspension and will only be eligible for selection for the second encounter in Wellington.
“This group of players have been working hard together since our first training camp in June, and most of them have been playing together for years, while the newer players in the squad showed in the Incoming Series and in the last two matches against Australia that they are ready for this challenge,” said Erasmus.
“[Captain] Siya [Kolisi], Pieter-Steph [du Toit], Willie [le Roux], and Jan-Hendrik [Wessels] have been medically cleared from their niggles, while all the players who faced Australia in Cape Town have received a clean bill of health and will be ready to face the All Blacks.”
South African squad
Forwards: Lood de Jager (Wild Knights), Pieter-Steph du Toit (Verblitz), Thomas du Toit (Bath), Jean-Luc du Preez (Bordeaux Begles), Eben Etzebeth (Sharks), Vincent Koch (Sharks), Siya Kolisi (Sharks), Wilco Louw (Bulls), Malcolm Marx (Spears), Bongi Mbonambi (Sharks), Franco Mostert (Heat), Ox Nche (Sharks), Ruan Nortje (Bulls), Kwagga Smith (Blue Revs), RG Snyman (Leinster), Marnus van der Merwe (Scarlets), Marco van Staden (Bulls), Boan Venter (Edinburgh), Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Bulls), Jasper Wiese (D-Rocks).
Backs: Damian de Allende (Wild Knights), Andre Esterhuizen (Sharks), Aphelele Fassi (Sharks), Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (Stormers), Ethan Hooker (Sharks), Jesse Kriel (Eagles), Cheslin Kolbe (Sungoliath), Willie le Roux (Bulls), Manie Libbok (Liners), Makazole Mapimpi (Sharks), Canan Moodie (Bulls), Handre Pollard (Bulls), Cobus Reinach (Stormers), Morne van den Berg (Lions), Grant Williams (Sharks), Damian Willemse (Stormers).
