Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus has dismissed claims that Evan Roos was overlooked due to personal issues.
The Stormers back-rower was not selected in the first official Springboks squad of the year, with the snub shocking many supporters and pundits.
Erasmus selected the likes of Juarno Augustus, Jasper Wiese and Cameron Hanekom as the specialist number eights with several other utility options.
Roos‘ snub garnered much attention in the media, which led to reports that he was not called up because of a personal issue.
Erasmus famously stated that he wanted to select the ‘right players’ and not just the ‘best players’ for the Springboks, with those called up to the squad needing to park their egos.
Evan Roos’ snub explained
But the Boks head coach has confirmed that Roos was only omitted from the squad for rugby reasons as the selectors believed that he wasn’t performing as well as the other number eights that were included.
With Hanekom sustaining an injury against the Sharks in the URC semi-final and uncapped forward Augustus also sidelined with an injury, Roos was simply the next man up, Erasmus confirmed.
“I saw the things that people wrote, but if you speak to Evan, he will tell you there is no personal issue,” he told reporters.
“Sometimes, we all differ on opinions on who plays well and who doesn’t, and sometimes the guy is my all means Springboks standard, but at this stage, he is just competing with guys.
“That’s why Evan has been drafted in now, Cameron is injured and Juarno Augustus hasn’t passed his exit medical test at Northampton so he is out too.
“That is why Evan has been called up. From the selectors’ opinion, Evan wasn’t playing as well as the others. That’s normally the reason why we won’t select guys and that’s not to say that he is not Springbok level or can’t play for the Boks; it is just that Kwagga Smith can play eight, so can Cameron, Juarno, Siya Kolisi and we have about five guys who can play seven flanker.”
He added: “Sometimes, it’s not that the guy isn’t good enough, it’s just that at that stage there are two or three other guys that are not necessarily better rugby players but they might fit into what we are trying to do as the Springboks. How we attack, defend and what we do in the lineouts and so on.
“Maybe it just doesn’t fit that player and maybe the other guys a little bit more settled those ways. We have all those injuries and now Evan is the next guy in.
“I watched the Bulls game live and I saw Cameron’s hamstring go and from that evening I called Evan through Charles our manager and told him you are flying tomorrow.”
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/rassie-erasmus-dismisses-personal-issues-with-evan-roos-after-initial-springboks-snub
