Rassie Erasmus welcomed the return of the overseas-based World Cup-winning Springboks and several Vodacom Bulls players to the squad for the upcoming series against Ireland.
Erasmus named a strong squad of 39 players and an additional 14 players on a standby list for the Castle Lager Incoming Series which kicks off with a challenging two Tests against Ireland on Saturday, 6 July.
Siya Kolisi, Handre Pollard, RG Snyman and fit-again Cheslin Kolbe and Lukhanyo Am are among the World Cup winners recalled to the squad, while Marco van Staden, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Willie le Roux are back after wrapping up their commitments with the Vodacom Bulls.
There are also four uncapped players in the squad – Johan Grobbelaar, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Phepsi Buthelezi and Morne van den Berg – while Edwill van der Merwe, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Ben-Jason Dixon have retained their places in the squad after making their Test debuts against Wales at Twickenham.
“We named the best squad available for the Incoming Series, and with squad depth being one of our key pillars as we build toward to the 2027 World Cup and the Test against Portugal, we thought it would be beneficial to us to name a standby squad with a few players who will join us at training sporadically in the next few weeks,” said Erasmus.
“Unfortunately, a handful of players are carrying injuries and were ruled out of the selection mix, but our plan to build depth in the last few years and expose players to Test rugby in the build-up to the 2023 RWC and against Wales last weekend certainly paid off.
“It’s great to have the overseas-based and Vodacom Bulls players back in the mix and with many of them being Rugby World Cup-winners, they will bring experience and calm heads to the team,” added Erasmus.
“Over and above that, some of the young players who were part of our travelling squad to London really impressed us over the last two weeks, and while some of them have been included in this group, we were limited in terms of the number of players we could pick, so there will always be a few unlucky players.”
Erasmus welcomed the uncapped players to the initial squad of 39 – Grobbelaar and Wessels, as well as those in the standby squad – and he hoped they would grab the opportunity with both hands.
“Johan and Jan-Hendrik really impressed us at the alignment camps we hosted in the year, and they are talented players with a bright future, so we are keen to see what they can do and the dynamic they add to the team,” said Erasmus. “They are skilful players with immense talent and their selection will offer them a great opportunity to make their mark.
“Jan-Hendrik is equally efficient at prop and hooker, which increases our front-row options and hopefully with their talent and drive, they will add great value to the squad.
“We also saw what the uncapped players in the travelling squad for the Wales Test have to offer and we have no doubt that if they receive an opportunity to run out in the green and gold this season, they will give their best and wear the badge with pride.”
Erasmus said the standby squad could come into the selection mix for the Test against Portugal particularly as they continue to expose a few young players to international rugby.
“We have a jam-packed three weeks lined up with training and the Ireland Test Series, and we’ll look at bringing in the standby players intermittently within the next few weeks to train with us and continue to familiarise themselves with our systems, especially with an eye on the Portugal Test,” said Erasmus.
He added: “This year marks the start of building toward to the 2027 Rugby World Cup, so we would like to continue exposing players to international rugby with an eye on that objective.”
The 39-man squad gathered in Pretoria on Tuesday and will continue with their training schedule, despite arriving in South Africa a day later than expected after their flight from London to South Africa was cancelled on Sunday night.
They will return home for the weekend to spend time with their families and resume their Test week training schedule on Monday 1 July for the clash against Ireland at Loftus Versfeld.
Photo: Christiaan Kotze/Gallo Images
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Src: sarugbymag.co.za
