What Will Rassie Do? Springboks Squad Reveal Looms

Springboks

The South Africans fielded 48 players over their June internationals and revealed the depth that has emerged in their game.

However, after his experimentation, both with players and the laws of the game during the June internationals, Erasmus said the Rugby Championship side will be more settled.

"The Rugby Championship is a step up from Tier Two nations [like Georgia who they beat 55-10 at the weekend], the Barbarians and the Italy matches."

Thirty-six players will be included in his squad, with nine on injury standby.

Erasmus wasn't brimming with happiness over the performance against Georgia.

"We are fairly happy. It could've been better. What we expected from them was physicality and disruption, and we certainly got that. 

"But I don't think it was a performance over the full 80 minutes from us. There were a lot of guys who made a lot of errors because of how Georgia played – and I don't mean that in a negative way. They disrupt very well."

The backline may feature some new names with regular wings Kurt-Lee Arendse and Cheslin Kolbe being challenged by Edwill van der Merwe, while centre Jesse Kriel will compete with Canan Moodie to start in his preferred position.


Halfback is an area of strength for the side with Grant Williams regarded as the frontrunner. However, Faf de Klerk showed when coming on as a substitute at the weekend that he is getting back to his best form.

While Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu had a variable performance at first five-eighths, Erasmus was not concerned. He played through a hip pointer injury he sustained during the warm-up.

"Sacha is not necessarily our first-choice 10 [first five-eighths]. We've got Manie [Libbok], who is pretty much on song, and when Handre [Pollard] came on, he was pretty solid.

"We like fly-halves who try things on the field, not just play safely in their little box. And he certainly wasn't one of the guys who made the most errors today. Georgia thrives on spoiling and disrupting, and a lot of guys struggled with that.

"I'm not frustrated with Sacha – it's only his second start for us this year. He's still young compared to our other fly-halves."

In the loose forwards, Kwagga Smith and Pieter-Steph du Toit lead the way while Ruan Nortje has developed as a quality lock to extend the depth in that position.

LATEST NEWS

View all