Springbok head coach Rassie Erasmus has named a 33-man squad for the upcoming Rugby Championship.
Getting underway on August 10th with the Wallabies host the back-to-back World Champions in Brisbane.
Heading to venue where they have a dismal record with just one win from thirteen outings, the Boks will have a stern test against a resurgent Wallabies side who have yet to lose under new head coach Joe Schmidt.
Whilst the Wallabies are three from three so far this season, Erasmus will be confident in the squad he has picked which includes twenty-two Rugby World Cup winners.
In addition to the experienced squad members, Erasmus has included five players who have made their debut this season by including Jan-Hendrik Wessels (utility forward), Johan Grobbelaar (hooker), Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (utility back), Ben-Jason Dixon (utility forward) and Morne van den Berg (scrumhalf).
Away from this group there is one player who did feature so far this season for the Boks as Bulls lock Ruan Nortje who replaces Franco Mostert in the squad.
Joining Mostert in being unavailable through injury is experienced scrumhalf Faf de Klerk.
Speaking about the make up of his squad, Erasmus said, “This is a quality group of players, which includes a mixture of youth and experience, and we believe this is the best group of players we could select for this tough assignment in the Castle Lager Rugby Championship.
“We rested some players before the match against Portugal to recharge for this competition and we are excited to see the energy they’ll bring back to the squad. We’ve also included a few younger players who made a strong statement in the Tests we played so far this season.
“The injury to Franco Mostert opened the door for Ruan Nortje to make his comeback to the national team, and he brings a different type of experience as the captain of the Vodacom Bulls.”
Forwards: Ben-Jason Dixon (DHL Stormers), Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz), Thomas du Toit (Bath), Eben Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Johan Grobbelaar (Vodacom Bulls), Vincent Koch (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Siya Kolisi (captain – Racing 92), Elrigh Louw (Vodacom Bulls), Frans Malherbe (DHL Stormers), Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears), Bongi Mbonambi (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Salmaan Moerat (DHL Stormers), Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Ruan Nortje (Vodacom Bulls), Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs), RG Snyman (Leinster), Gerhard Steenekamp (Vodacom Bulls), Marco van Staden (Vodacom Bulls), Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Vodacom Bulls).
Backs: Lukhanyo Am (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Kurt-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls), Damian de Allende (Wild Knights), Aphelele Fassi (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (DHL Stormers), Cheslin Kolbe (Suntory Sungoliath), Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles), Willie le Roux (Vodacom Bulls), Makazole Mapimpi (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Manie Libbok (DHL Stormers), Handre Pollard (Leicester Tigers), Cobus Reinach (Montpellier), Morne van den Berg (Emirates Lions), Grant Williams (Hollywoodbets Sharks).
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