Rugby World Cup winners Malcolm Marx and Pieter-Steph du Toit have been included in strong Springboks squad for the upcoming Rugby Championship despite picking up injuries in the second Test against Ireland.
Star hooker Marx was ruled out of the Test against Portugal with a leg fracture, while flank Du Toit was also believed to be out for about four to six weeks with an injury. The duo are in a race against time to be fit for first Tests against Australia August 10 and 17, but should be 100% ready to go for the remainder of the tournament.
However, the Springboks still have a big injury list, with 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) not considered for selection.
The 33-man Springboks squad features 22 Rugby World Cup-winners, while five 2024 debutants are included in the squad with Jan-Hendrik Wessels (utility forward), Johan Grobbelaar (hooker), Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (utility back), Ben-Jason Dixon (utility forward) and Morne van den Berg (scrumhalf) all getting the nod.
The only newcomer to the group is the Bulls’ lock Ruan Nortje, who made his Springbok debut against Wales.
▪️ Kurt-Lee Arendse
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▪️ Lukhanyo Am
▪️ Makazole Mapimpi
▪️ Quan Horn
Up close and personal for a pitch-side view of the Springbok tries this weekend 🤳![CDATA[]]>🇿![CDATA[]]>🇦 pic.twitter.com/rwSclE5NNT
No 8 Jasper Wiese is suspended and centre Andre Esterhuizen awaits a disciplinary hearing after being sent off in the 64-21 win over Portugal on Saturday.
“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 Rugby Championship,” said coach Rassie 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 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 66th 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.
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.
WHAT WAS THAT!? 🤯
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Feinberg-Mngomezulu ➡️ Mapimpi 🔥
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“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 August 10 and 17, before returning to South Africa to play back-to-back matches against the All Blacks on August 31 in Johannesburg, September 7 in Cape Town.
They will then take a short trip to Argentina to face Los Pumas in Santiago on Saturday, September 21, before wrapping up the tournament in Nelspruit against Argentina on September 28.
Springbok squad for the Rugby Championship:
Forwards: Ben-Jason Dixon (Stormers), Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz), Thomas du Toit (Bath), Eben Etzebeth (Sharks), Johan Grobbelaar (Bulls), Vincent Koch (Sharks), Siya Kolisi (captain, Racing 92), Elrigh Louw (Bulls), Frans Malherbe (Stormers), Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears), Bongi Mbonambi (Sharks), Salmaan Moerat (Stormers), Ox Nche (Sharks), Ruan Nortje (Bulls), Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs), RG Snyman (Leinster), Gerhard Steenekamp (Bulls), Marco van Staden (Bulls), Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Bulls).
Backs: Lukhanyo Am (Sharks), Kurt-Lee Arendse (Bulls), Damian de Allende (Wild Knights), Aphelele Fassi (Sharks), Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (Stormers), Cheslin Kolbe (Suntory Sungoliath), Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles), Willie le Roux (Bulls), Makazole Mapimpi (Sharks), Manie Libbok (Stormers), Handre Pollard (Leicester Tigers), Cobus Reinach (Montpellier), Morne van den Berg (Lions), Grant Williams (Sharks).
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