Rassie calls up reinforcements for injured Boks

NEWS: Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has called up five players to the squad for their closing match of the mid-year Tests against Portugal in Bloemfontein on Saturday.

The 41-man squad now features seven uncapped players.

Two players, Franco Mostert (lock) and Edwill van der Merwe (wing), have been ruled out due to injuries.

The extent of their respective injuries is set to be confirmed on Monday.

Centre Damian de Allende was also permitted to exit the camp due to personal reasons.

Capped Springboks Elrigh Louw (loose forward) and Ntuthuko Mchunu (prop), as well as uncapped Quan Horn (fullback), Andre-Hugo Venter (hooker) and Ruan Venter (loose forward) – who attended the Bok alignment camps in May – joined the current group of players.

This includes eight of the nine players who were released to their provincial unions last week to get game time in the Currie Cup.

Erasmus stated that several players would be released on Wednesday, once the team had concluded their main on-field preparations for the historic Test against Portugal – at the Free State Stadium on Saturday.

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The Springboks arrived in the Free State capital on Sunday afternoon and will begin their on-field preparations for the clash on Monday as they look to bounce back from their heart-breaking 24-25 loss against Ireland in Durban at the weekend.

“It was always part of our planning to expose a few players to the international game against Portugal, in line with our objective to build squad depth with an eye on the 2027 World Cup,” said Erasmus.

“Some of the players had a taste of the international game against Wales at Twickenham, others received an opportunity off the bench against Ireland, and Andre-Hugo Venter toured with us to London for the Wales Test, so we are delighted with the quality of the players coming through the ranks.

“Portugal is a quality team as they showed in the World Cup last year, defeating Fiji, and we have no doubt they’ll want to make a strong statement against us.

“Although we may mix things up for this Test, we’ll select a quality team that we have full faith in to get our season back on track.”

Erasmus added: “The players we plan to release will continue to put in the hard yards to prepare the team that will face Portugal, as we generally do with the non-playing players, which is invaluable in preparing the team as well as possible.”

Erasmus admitted that while it was a blow to go down against Ireland, the break for the players set to be released will be important as they look ahead to a challenging Rugby Championship campaign which features back-to-back Tests against Australia (in Brisbane on August 10 and Perth on August 17), two home Tests against New Zealand in Johannesburg and Cape Town (August 31 and September 7), a Test against Argentina in Santiago (September 21) and the final match of the series against the Pumas in Nelspruit (September 28).

“This is a long and challenging season, and as much as it would have been great to win both matches against Ireland, it’s vital that we manage the players well to allow them to regenerate in order to maximise their performances throughout the season,” said Erasmus.

“Those players will have 10 days off, which means they’ll be fresh when they rejoin the squad before the Castle Lager Rugby Championship.”

Erasmus will announce his matchday team to face Portugal on Tuesday.

Springbok squad for the match against Portugal:

Props: Ntuthuko Mchunu, Ox Nche (both Sharks), Gerhard Steenekamp, Jan-Hendrik Wessels (both Bulls), Frans Malherbe (Stormers), Vincent Koch, Trevor Nyakane (both Sharks), Thomas du Toit (Bath).

Hookers: Bongi Mbonambi (Sharks), Malcolm Marx (Spears), Johan Grobbelaar (Bulls), Andre-Hugo Venter (Stormers).

Locks: Eben Etzebeth (Sharks), Salmaan Moerat (Stormers), RG Snyman (Leinster).

Loose forwards: Siya Kolisi (Racing 92), Elrigh Louw, Marco van Staden (both Bulls), Phepsi Buthelezi (Sharks), Pieter-Steph du Toit (Verblitz), Ben-Jason Dixon, Evan Roos (both Stormers), Ruan Venter (Lions), Kwagga Smith (Blue Revs), Jasper Wiese (Leicester Tigers).

Scrumhalves: Faf de Klerk (Eagles), Grant Williams (Sharks), Cobus Reinach (Montpellier), Morne van den Berg (Lions).

Flyhalves: Handre Pollard (Leicester Tigers), Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Manie Libbok (both Stormers).

Centres: Lukhanyo Am, Andre Esterhuizen (both Sharks), Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles).

Outside backs: Kurt-Lee Arendse (Bulls), Cheslin Kolbe (Suntory Sungoliath), Willie le Roux (Bulls), Makazole Mapimpi (Sharks), Aphelele Fassi (Sharks), Quan Horn (Lions).