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Boks without another RWC-winning titan after naming Rugby Championship squad
By Josh Raisey
Rassie Erasmus has named his 33-player South Africa squad for the Rugby Championship, revealing yet more injuries.
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Faf de Klerk has become the latest member of the Boks’ lengthy injury list, joining fellow scrumhalves Jaden Hendrikse and Herschel Jantjies. Cobus Reinach, Morne van den Berg and Grant Williams are the three No9s selected in their stead.
There is only one new member to the squad from the ones that have assembled already this year, with Bulls lock Ruan Nortje returning to the national set-up to take the place of the injured Franco Mostert.
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Nortje has not represented the Springboks since 2022.
Five debutants this year – Jan-Hendrik Wessels (utility forward), Johan Grobbelaar (hooker), Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (utility back), Ben-Jason Dixon (utility forward) and van den Berg – have all retained their place in the squad, who will reconvene in Johannesburg in preparation to take on Australia in Brisbane on Saturday, August 10.
The Boks’ suspension list has also grown, with Andre Esterhuizen, who awaits a disciplinary hearing for his red card, joining the already-banned Jasper Wiese in missing out on selection.
“This is a quality group of players, which includes a mixture of youth and experience, and we believe this is the best group of players we could select for this tough assignment in the Castle Lager Rugby Championship,” said Erasmus.
“We rested some players before the match against Portugal to recharge for this competition and we are excited to see the energy they’ll bring back to the squad. We’ve also included a few younger players who made a strong statement in the Tests we played so far this season.”
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Looking ahead to their upcoming opponents, Erasmus said: “We faced New Zealand in the Rugby World Cup final and won by a point, and we all know how tough the competition and rivalry is between the teams.
“Australia are also a quality team, and we’ve seen historically that are a force to be reckoned at home, while Argentina are a physical and competitive team and always push us to the limit, so we are under no illusions about what lies ahead.
“But we’re also excited to launch this new edition of the tournament and test ourselves against the southern hemisphere sides once again.”
South Africa squad
Forwards: Ben-Jason Dixon (DHL Stormers), Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz), Thomas du Toit (Bath), Eben Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Johan Grobbelaar (Vodacom Bulls), Vincent Koch (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Siya Kolisi (captain – Racing 92), Elrigh Louw (Vodacom Bulls), Frans Malherbe (DHL Stormers), Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears), Bongi Mbonambi (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Salmaan Moerat (DHL Stormers), Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Ruan Nortje (Vodacom Bulls), Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs), RG Snyman (Leinster), Gerhard Steenekamp (Vodacom Bulls), Marco van Staden (Vodacom Bulls), Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Vodacom Bulls).
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Backs: Lukhanyo Am (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Kurt-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls), Damian de Allende (Wild Knights), Aphelele Fassi (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (DHL Stormers), Cheslin Kolbe (Suntory Sungoliath), Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles), Willie le Roux (Vodacom Bulls), Makazole Mapimpi (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Manie Libbok (DHL Stormers), Handre Pollard (Leicester Tigers), Cobus Reinach (Montpellier), Morne van den Berg (Emirates Lions), Grant Williams (Hollywoodbets Sharks).
No genuine test level backs? Interesting.
The only RWC winning Bok that was ever important was Wanye Barnes.
He’s the only reason they win the last one after all.
A jolly good squad. Nice to see some new faces.
The headline should read:
SA without another Titan, but nobody cares cause it makes no difference.
Pity Evan Roos is not in the squad so that he could get another opportunity to prove his worth before Cameron Hanekom makes his debut, but just goes to show how healthy SA Rugby is at the moment that a player of his caliber is left at home.
Only a matter of time now before Cameron Hanekom makes his debut at 8 for the Springboks. After that guys like Roos & Venter will have to settle for second best and fight for the right to wear the no 8 jersey.
Probably the first time in Faf’s life he's been described as a “titan”
No Nkosi? Hope it’s nothing to do with his failed drugs test.
How apt that his club team is the ‘Cheetahs.’
Had expected the player that the headline was referring to might have been Sbu Nkosi…but no!
Quite impressive considering the players who are not there:
Steven Kitshoff
Trevor Nyakane
Franco Mostert
Lood De Jager
Jasper Wiese
Jean Kleyn
Marvin Orie
Evan Roos
Phepsi Buthelezi
Faf De Klerk
Jaden Hendrikse
Canan Moodie
Damian Willemse
Edwill Vd Merwe
Andre Esterhuizen
The list goes on… 👏
33 players isn’t very many!