Rassie reveals his Rugby Championship hand
SQUAD ANNOUNCEMENT: Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has named his team for the start of South Africa’s Rugby Championship campaign.
Erasmus selected a strong 37-man squad for the first two Tests in the Rugby Championship against Australia, featuring 24 World Cup winners and five players who made their Test debuts during their successful July Tests.
The Bok coach also invited three ‘young guns’, who were members of the triumphant Baby Bok World Rugby Under-20 Championship squad – Bathobele Hlekani, Cheswill Jooste, and Haashim Pead – to train with the group during their two-week conditioning camp in Johannesburg starting on Sunday, July 27, to orientate them into the Springbok culture.
The five players who earned their first Springbok Test caps in July are Ethan Hooker (utility back), Asenathi Ntlabakanye, Boan Venter (both props), Marnus van der Merwe (hooker), and Cobus Wiese (utility forward).
Meanwhile, Bath prop Thomas du Toit has been granted a compulsory two-week rest as agreed with the Premiership, although he is eligible to be called up at any stage should the need arise.
No.8 Jasper Wiese is currently serving a four-week suspension, ruling him out of this squad.
A handful of players, in turn, have been released to their respective franchises to build up game time in the Currie Cup competition, although a few of them have been placed on standby for the Wallaby Tests.
The standby players are Lukhanyo Am (centre), who missed the July Tests due to a knee niggle, Faf de Klerk (scrumhalf), Makazole Mapimpi (wing), Salmaan Moerat (lock), Evan Roos (No.8), Neethling Fouche (prop), and Vincent Tshituka (flank).
In total, Erasmus’ squad includes 20 forwards and 17 backline players.
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“It’s always challenging to reduce the squad, especially given how the expanded group of players put up their hands during the July Tests, but we always said we would select a smaller, more manageable squad during the Rugby Championship,” said Erasmus.
“This group includes several experienced players and a few younger guys, who grabbed their chances in the last few Tests, so we are pleased with this squad for the first two matches.
“We have also informed the players on standby what our plans are and what we expect from them, so that all of them are ready to step up if needed.”
Erasmus elaborated on the composition of the squad, saying: “We probably have three players who can cover each position, which is important in this competition, so it was a thorough process to narrow down the group to 36 players.
“One of our key pillars as a team is to build squad depth, and there is no better way to see what some of the younger players are capable of than to expose them to some of the top teams in the world.”
Of the young guns invited to train with the squad for the next two weeks, Erasmus said: “We are tremendously proud of the Junior Springboks for winning the World Rugby Under-20 Championship and we were thrilled to see the talent coming through the junior ranks, so we opted to invite three of them to join us to expose them to our structures and the standards required at top international level.
“We believe this camp will benefit them significantly, and we are excited to see how they slot in and train with us.
“Unfortunately, we had to limit the size of the squad to ensure maximum outputs and more individual attention at our training sessions, so although more players could have been invited, we could only select three.”
Erasmus expected a completely different challenge in the Rugby Championship to that against the Barbarians, Italy, and Georgia.
“Australia, New Zealand, and Argentina are all ranked in the top seven in the world, and if one considers that we won the Rugby Championship for the first time since 2019 last year, it is clear that this will be a completely different kettle of fish.
“All three teams have beaten us in the last few years and they play a different style of rugby to the other opposition we have faced thus far, but we are pleased with the foundation we laid in the last few weeks and we know exactly what areas of our game we need to work on going into the Rugby Championship.”
Erasmus will announce his squad for the two-match tour to New Zealand in September before making the journey to the Aotearoa, where they will face their arch-rivals at Eden Park in Auckland on September 6, and the Wellington Regional Stadium on September 13 respectively.
The team will wrap up their campaign with Test matches against Argentina in Durban on Saturday September 27, and in London on October 4.
South African squad
Forwards: Lood de Jager (Wild Knights), Pieter-Steph du Toit (Verblitz), 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), Asenathi Ntlabakanye (Lions), Kwagga Smith (Blue Revs), RG Snyman (Leinster), Marnus van der Merwe (Scarlets), Marco van Staden (Bulls), Boan Venter (Edinburgh), Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Bulls), Cobus Wiese (Bulls).
Backs: Kurt-Lee Arendse (Bulls), Damian de Allende (Wild Knights), Andre Esterhuizen (Sharks), Aphelele Fassi (Sharks), Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (Stormers), Ethan Hooker (Sharks), Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles), Cheslin Kolbe (Sungoliath), Willie le Roux (Bulls), Manie Libbok (Stormers), Canan Moodie (Bulls), Handre Pollard (Bulls), Cobus Reinach (Stormers), Edwill van der Merwe (Sharks), Morné van den Berg (Lions), Grant Williams (Sharks), Damian Willemse (Stormers).
