Nortje called up for Oz as Boks pick strong 33-man squad

 

Springbok captain Siya Kolisi will lead a strong 33-man squad to Australia for the opening two games of the Castle Lager Rugby Championship early next month.

While the Boks named a squad that didn’t include scrumhalf Faf de Klerk, who is injured with an unspecified injury, there was good news as World Cup winners Malcolm Marx and Pieter-Steph du Toit were declared fit for the tour.

There was also only one player called up from outside the squad for the incoming tours in Bulls captain Ruan Nortje, who made his debut in 2022 and will cover for the injured Franco Mostert in the squad.

Nortje was part of the standby group of players that could get called up in case of an injury.

Marx isn’t expected to play in the first test against Australia, with Johan Grobbelaar, the Bulls hooker who had a good debut against Portugal, expected to fill the backup role to Bongi Mbonambi with Marx expected to be back for the second test.

Twenty-two of the 33 are Rugby World Cup winners, while there was an inclusion of Grobbelaar, as well as other players who impressed in their debut season in Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Ben-Jason Dixon and scrumhalf Morne van den Berg.

Wessels provides extra cover at prop and hooker and impressed against Portugal.

Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu was included as the utility back with Manie Libbok and Handre Pollard the two flyhalves in the squad.

Two of the more interesting inclusions are that of Thomas du Toit, who seems to have replaced Trevor Nyakane, a decision that must have been influenced by his play against Portugal, and Elrigh Louw, who wasn’t in the squad for the Ireland tests but impressed enough to knock Phepsi Buthelezi out of the squad.

Louw could be seen as an impact sub late in the games against Australia.

Evan Roos is the other player who has been left out of the squad, but should be back for the All Black games.

The Bok injury list looks long and complicated, but the depth is such that it hasn’t had a significant impact on the team, with three locks out in Jean Kleyn, Lood de Jager and Franco Mostert while De Klerk joins Jaden Hendrikse and Herschel Jantjies as injured halfbacks.

While Rassie Erasmus did say that Steven Kitshoff was cleared and should be back, he is listed on the injured list, and along with Canan Moodie, who was also said to return a week ago, but hasn’t been included, it seems both players will be given more time before rejoining the squad.

The other two injured players are Edwill van der Merwe and Damian Willemse, who are still recovering from injuries.

Then the Boks will face an anxious wait on Andre Esterhuizen, who was red-carded for a head clash against Portugal and will face a disciplinary hearing this week, while No 8 Jasper Wiese will miss out on the Australian tour and complete his six-match ban, but will be available for the All Black games when the Boks return from Australia.

“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,” said Erasmus.

“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.”

Erasmus lauded the younger players in the group for the strong statement they made this season, and he looked forward to seeing what they had to offer in what will be a vastly different challenge against Australia, New Zealand, and Argentina.

“We were very impressed with the likes of Salmaan Moerat (who became the 66^th Springbok captain against Portugal), Dixon, Grobbelaar, Wessels and Feinberg-Mngomezulu when they received a chance to play this season,” said Erasmus.

“While this may be a very different challenge to facing Wales, Ireland and Portugal, we have full faith in the players to make another big step up against the southern hemisphere teams, who play a different type of rugby to the sides we’ve faced up to now.

“As always there are a number of unlucky players, but we could only select a squad of 33 to travel to Australia. The players excluded from the squad will be available for selection for their respective clubs, but we explained to them before we departed Bloemfontein that this squad is not necessarily the same group that will be selected for the matches against New Zealand and Argentina, so they have been put on specialised conditioning programmes to ensure they are ready should they get the call-up.”

TOUGH CHAMPIONSHIP AHEAD

The Bok coach expected a challenging Castle Lager Rugby Championship and said: “We faced New Zealand in the Rugby World Cup final and won by a point, and we all know how tough the competition and rivalry is between the teams.

“Australia are also a quality team, and we’ve seen historically that are a force to be reckoned at home, while Argentina are a physical and competitive team and always push us to the limit, so we are under no illusions about what lies ahead.

“But we’re also excited to launch this new edition of the tournament and test ourselves against the southern hemisphere sides once again.”

The Springboks will face Australia in Brisbane and Perth on 10 and 17 August respectively, before returning to South Africa to play back-to-back matches against New Zealand on Saturday, 31 August in Johannesburg, and 7 September in Cape Town.

They will then take a short trip to Argentina to face Los Pumas in Santiago on Saturday, 21 September, before wrapping up the tournament in Nelspruit against Argentina on Saturday, 28 September.

The team will then travel to the UK for their traditional northern hemisphere tour in November where they will line up against Scotland (10 November), England (16 November) and Wales in Cardiff (23 November).

The Castle Lager Rugby Championship squad will assemble in Johannesburg on Sunday for a short preparation camp before departing for Australia on Wednesday 31 July.

SPRINGBOK SQUAD

Utility back: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu

Fullbacks: Aphelele Fassi, Willie le Roux

Wings: Kurt-Lee Arendse, Cheslin Kolbe, Makazole Mapimpi

Midfielders: Lukhanyo Am, Damian de Allende, Jesse Kriel

Flyhalves: Manie Libbok, Handre Pollard

Scrumhalves: Cobus Reinach, Morne van den Berg, Grant Williams

Loose forwards: Ben-Jason Dixon, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi (Capt), Elrigh Louw, Kwagga Smith, Marco van Staden

Locks: Eben Etzebeth, Salmaan Moerat, Ruan Nortje, RG Snyman

Hookers: Johan Grobbelaar, Malcolm Marx, Bongi Mbonambi

Props: Thomas du Toit, Vincent Koch, Frans Malherbe, Ox Nche, Gerhard Steenekamp, Jan-Hendrik Wessels

Players not considered due to injury: Jean Kleyn, Lood de Jager and Franco Mostert (all locks), Steven Kitshoff (prop), Faf de Klerk, Jaden Hendrikse, Herschel Jantjies (scrumhalves), Canan Moodie, (centre), Edwill van der Merwe (wing) and Damian Willemse (utility back).

Jasper Wiese (No 8) is suspended, and Andre Esterhuizen (centre) awaits a disciplinary hearing after being sent off in the 64-21 win over Portugal on Saturday.

Falling out of the squad:  Phepsi Buthelezi, Trevor Nyakane, Quan Horn, Ruan Venter

 

Brendan Nel

Supersport