Erasmus keeps faith in core of Bok squad to face Pumas

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has kept the core of the squad that retained the Freedom Cup in New Zealand last weekend in his 33-man combination for their closing two Rugby Championship matches against Argentina.

The squad assemble in Durban on Thursday — where they meet Argentina at Kings Park on September 27 — after having a few days off with their families following their return from New Zealand on Sunday night. The second match against the Pumas is at Twickenham in London on October 4.

Among players ruled out for selection were lock Lood de Jager, loose forward Jean-Luc du Preez and fullback Aphelele Fassi, who all suffered injuries on the New Zealand tour, where the Springboks lost 24-27 and then thrashed the All Blacks 43-10 in the second game.

Props Gerhard Steenekamp and Frans Malherbe, lock Salmaan Moerat and utility back Kurt-Lee Arendse have been on the injury list for different durations in the past few months.

The squad to face Argentina includes 18 forwards and 15 backline players.

After medical assessments in camp on Thursday there is a possibility that a further three players could be added later this week, with a group of up to 30 players set to travel to London for the final match.

Australia lead the championship on 11 points going into their Bledisloe Cup matches against New Zealand, the Springboks are in second place and the All Blacks in third (both on 10 points), while the Pumas are on nine points. All four teams have won two of four matches.

“This group of players have been together for more than 13 weeks now and they’ve shown they are the right players for this task against the Pumas,” Erasmus said.

“We’ve chopped and changed our squad a fair bit this season, playing 46 players in our past eight matches, including in the Barbarians match. By training together almost daily we are confident these are the players who can give us the best shot to try to retain the title.

“That the younger and older guys have been training with one another and against one another on the field almost daily paid off last weekend and we have no doubt that if we continue showing our faith in these players we will get the best out of them.

“The bonus for us is we still have so many players who have been in the system and attended our alignment camps in the past few seasons and who have been knocking hard on the door. Unfortunately, we could only select a limited number of players for these matches, so we will continue to keep an eye on the others.”

Erasmus admitted it was disappointing losing players such as Fassi, De Jager and Du Preez to injuries, but he is satisfied with the depth in his squad.

He said Argentina, who moved up to sixth place on the world rankings after their victory over the Wallabies in Sydney last weekend, will be motivated for their last two games.

“They have quality forwards and backs, and they play with guts and passion, so we know it will take two great performances to beat them and hopefully retain the Rugby Championship title.”

Springbok squad

Forwards: Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz), Thomas du Toit (Bath), Eben Etzebeth (Sharks), Vincent Koch (Sharks), Siya Kolisi (Sharks), Wilco Louw (Bulls), Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears), Bongi Mbonambi (Sharks), Franco Mostert (Honda Heat), Ox Nche (Sharks), Ruan Nortje (Bulls), Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs), RG Snyman (Leinster), Marnus van der Merwe (Scarlets), Marco van Staden (Bulls), Boan Venter (Edinburgh), Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Bulls), Jasper Wiese (Urayasu D-Rocks)

Backs: Damian de Allende (Wild Knights), Faf de Klerk (Canon Eagles), André Esterhuizen (Sharks), Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (Stormers), Ethan Hooker (Sharks), Cheslin Kolbe (Tokyo Sungoliath), Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles), Manie Libbok (Kintetsu Liners), Makazole Mapimpi (Sharks), Canan Moodie (Bulls), Handré Pollard (Bulls), Cobus Reinach (Stormers), Morne van den Berg (Lions), Damian Willemse (Stormers), Grant Williams (Sharks)

SA Rugby media