Few surprises mentioned in Springbok selection for Incoming Tour

Head coach Rassie Erasmus named few surprises in the Springboks’ squad for the upcoming series against Ireland and Portugal, which starts in Loftus next weekend.

The Boks take on Ireland in two Tests, in Pretoria and Durban, before playing a historic first Test against Portugal in Bloemfontein to conclude the incoming series.

A 39-man squad was announced on Tuesday afternoon, with 27 players from last year’s Rugby World Cup winning side, while six were ruled out of the series due to injury, namely Steven Kitshoff, Jean Kleyn, Lood de Jager, Jaden Hendrikse, Canan Moodie and Damian Willemse.

Two uncapped players who were also in the squad, Bulls loose forward Cameron Hanekom and Lions center Henco van Wyk, were also ruled out due to injury.

Four uncapped players were there, namely Sharks loose forward Phepsi Buthelezi, Lions scrumhalf Morne van den Berg and Bulls duo, hooker Johan Grobbelaar and first rower Jan-Hendrik Wessels.

Players who missed the selection for the World Cup last year, but have returned to the Bok selection, include Evan Roos, Thomas du Toit, Gerhard Steenekamp, ​​Salmaan Moerat and Aphelele Fassie.

Three players who made their Bok debuts against Wales last weekend, Edwill van der Merwe, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Ben-Jason Dixon, were all also part of the squad.

Captain’s dilemma

The Boks have yet to decide on a captain for the future and will only name one before Ireland’s opening Test next week, but Siya Kolisi is still in the mix, as are Pieter-Steph du Toit, who captained against Wales, Eben Etzebeth and Bongi Mbonambi.

“We have named the best squad available for the upcoming series. Unfortunately a handful of players have suffered from injuries and have been left out of the squad mix, but our plan over recent years to build depth and expose players to test rugby in the lead up to the 2023 Rugby World Cup and against Wales last weekend has certainly paid off,” said Erasmus.

All Bok players were available for selection for the current squad, after the first squad of the season, a 35-man group named to prepare for the opening Test against Wales, did not include any European or Bulls players. who reached the final of the United Rugby Championship.

Erasmus admitted it was great to have everyone back and it was a big boost for the team ahead of what is expected to be two tough games against Ireland.

“It’s great to have the overseas-based players and 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,” Erasmus said.

“In addition, some of the young players who were part of our traveling squad to London have really impressed us over the past two weeks, and although some of them have been included in this group, we were limited in terms of the number of players we could choose, so there will always be a few unhappy players.”