Rassie Erasmus to keep standby players in the loop as Springboks reward form for Australia Tests

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has rewarded form players from the recent international matches against Italy and Georgia for the upcoming Rugby Championship matches against Australia. Still, there is no room for several stalwarts.

Missing out are Lukhanyo Am, Faf de Klerk, Makazole Mapimpi, Salmaan Moerat, Evan Roos, Neethling Fouche (prop), and Vincent Tshituka as Erasmus trims his squad to 20 forwards and 17 backline players.

The Springboks will face the Wallabies in Johannesburg on Saturday, August 16, and again a week later in Cape Town on August 23.

“It’s always challenging to reduce the squad, especially given how the expanded group of players put up their hands during the recent home internationals, but we always said we would select a smaller, more manageable squad for 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 of our plans 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 37 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.”

Erasmus has invited recent Junior Springbok champions Bathobele Hlekani, Cheswill Jooste, and Haashim Pead to train with the senior squad.

“We are tremendously proud of the Junior Springboks for winning the World Rugby U20 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 expects a completely different challenge in the Championship to that experienced 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 last year we won the Rugby Championship for the first time since 2019, 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 Down Under, where they will face their arch-rivals at Eden Park in Auckland on 6 September, and in Wellington 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.

Springbok Squad

Forwards: Lood de Jager (Wild Knights), Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz), Jean-Luc du Preez (Bordeaux Begles), Eben Etzebeth (Sharks), Vincent Koch (Sharks), Siya Kolisi (Sharks), Wilco Louw (Vodacom Bulls), Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears), Bongi Mbonambi (Sharks), Franco Mostert (Honda Heat), Ox Nche (Sharks), Ruan Nortje (Bulls), Asenathi Ntlabakanye (Lions), Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka 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 (Tokyo Sungoliath), Willie le Roux (Bulls), Manie Libbok (Hanazono Kintetsu Liners), Canan Moodie (Bulls), Handre Pollard (Vodacom Bulls), Cobus Reinach (Stormers), Edwill van der Merwe (Sharks), Morne van den Berg (Lions), Grant Williams (Sharks), Damian Willemse (Stormers).