Picking a squad for the 2024 Rugby Championship has been made more “interesting” for Rassie Erasmus after a handful of rookie Springboks shone against Portugal on Saturday.
The world champions chugged to a 10-try 64-21 victory over Portugal in Bloemfontein despite playing most of the match with 14 men.
REPORT: 14-man Boks steamroll Portugal
Four of the seven debutants scored tries in their first run in the green and gold – Phepsi Buthelezi, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Quan Horn and Andre-Hugo Venter – while loose-forward Ben-Jason Dixon scored his first Test try in his first start.
“The debutants, it was great,” Erasmus said. “There were seven of them and four scored tries. So that’s nice. It makes it interesting now to pick a squad [for the Rugby Championship].
“I promised the whole squad that everybody will get a cap today. That was the plan. To give everybody at least 20 minutes was great. The way they rewarded us for giving them that chance was unbelievable.
“I am really proud of all of them.”
Erasmus confirmed that the squad for the first leg of the Rugby Championship in Australia will be named on Tuesday.
The Springboks are set to get a major boost on the injury front, with Pieter-Steph du Toit and Steven Kitshoff returning to fitness after injuries, while there is confidence Malcolm Marx will also be part of the tour.
“There’s a squad of 42 and we have players moving in and out of the squad,” Erasmus explained.
“Jasper [Wiese] must still come back, Damian Willemse must still come back, Pieter-Steph is cleared now, Steven Kitshoff is cleared now, Malcolm looks like he can play in the second Test in Australia.
“We will have to juggle a few things. When we give players game time and when is the right opportunity. Lots of players can play for the Springboks.
“We will definitely be slowly integrating some of these players into the squad. Some might play against Australia, then not play against New Zealand but come back against Argentina.”
Erasmus praised Portugal for giving the Springboks a good run at the Toyota Stadium, but once again dismissed the idea that he had fielded a B-team.
“I can tell you that the team we picked today will give the team we picked against Ireland a go. I don’t care if people go into the ‘A-side’ and ‘B-side’ debate.
“I am telling you that there is no difference between them.
“For a team like Portugal to come here and play like that at altitude – people forget that – just the way they hung in there. I spoke to their coach afterwards and he is not downhearted. He’s excited. This is what they need.
“We are happy to have that. We can blood youngsters against them but it’s still a tough match. We learned that we can play with 14 men. We had to make plans on the field about that, and that’s a nice experience.”
Photo: Charle Lombard/Gallo Images
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Src: sarugbymag.co.za
