South Africa’s director of rugby, Rassie Erasmus, has named an experienced squad for the Springboks’ tour of Europe in November, with Stormers prop Zachary Posen the only new call-up.
The former U20 national team captain is currently on tour with URC’s Stormers in Italy, but joins the usual veterans such as captain Siya Kolisi (two Tests away from his 100 caps) and a few fresh but familiar faces such as flanker Ben-Jason Dixon.
“We are excited about the composition of this squad,” Erasmus said of the 36-man squad and 10 players on standby. “Most of the players in the group have been with us all season, while others are returning from injuries and some have worked for us over the past few years.
“It’s great to see a young player like Zachary come out of our junior set-up and work his way up through the ranks into the senior set-up and we’re excited to see what he can do at this level.”
Erasmus added: “With five tough matches coming up, we always plan to choose a team that is easy to handle and we have a lot of players on standby, some of whom have been with us at this stage of the season, as well as uncapped players like Sebastian and Juarno who continue to impress us with their performances.”
“Niesling and Salman are currently on their way back from injury so it was important to us that they get more game time with the Vodacom URC franchise and that was the main reason for excluding them from the 36-man squad.
“Obviously, if necessary, players not on the standby list may be called up.”
The Boks face Japan on 1 November in the first of five consecutive Saturday Tests at Wembley Stadium in London, followed by games against France at the Stade de France in Paris (8 November), Italy at the Allianz Stadium in Turin (15 November), Ireland at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin (22 November) and Wales at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff (29 November). November).
The Boks will not face England or Scotland this time around, but Erasmus knew the tour would be difficult, especially after the Boks won their final match after a competitive Rugby Championship recently.
The coach said, “It’s going to be a longer tour than usual and we’ll be playing against top-class opponents, but I’m looking forward to it.
“We have seen over the last few years that no team can be ignored, with Ireland and France currently third and fourth in the world rankings, Italy, Wales and Japan 10th, 12th and 13th.
“Ireland and France have always been tough opponents and we won four of the five Six Nations games, with France ultimately being crowned champions, but we know how difficult it is to beat both teams at home.
“Japan have beaten us before, Italy played well against us in Pretoria earlier this year and Wales proved they are on an upward trajectory again by defeating Japan, so it will be a challenging tour.
“We’ve had some good performances this season, but we’ve also had some disappointing performances, so this will be a good opportunity to test ourselves and see if we can build consistency from week to week.
“However, it will require a lot of effort and we are excited about the tour.”
springbok team
forward: Ruud de Jager (Wild Knights), Ben Jason Dixon (DHL Stormers), Peter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz), Thomas du Toit (Bath), Eben Ezebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Johan Grobbelaar (Vodacom Bulls), Jean Klin (Munster), Siya Kolisi (Hollywoodbets) Sharks), Wilco Rowe (Vodacom Bulls), Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears), Franco Mostert (Honda Heat), Ox Ntje (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Luan Nortje (Vodacom Bulls), Zachary Posen (DHL Stormers), Kwaga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs), RG Snyman (Leinster), Gerhard Steenekamp (Vodacom Bulls), Marco van Staden (Vodacom Bulls), Boan Venter (Edinburgh), Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Vodacom Bulls), Jasper Wiese (Urayasu D-Rocks).
Bucks: Kurt-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls), Damian de Allende (Wild Knights), Andre Esterhuizen (Hollywood Bets Sharks), Sasha Feinberg-Mgomezulu (DHL Stormers), Ethan Hooker (Hollywood Bets Sharks), Cheslyn Kolbe (Suntory Sun Goliath), Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles), Mani Ribbok (Kintetsu Liners), Kanan Moody (Vodacom Bulls), Handre Pollard (Vodacom Bulls), Kobus Reinach (DHL Stormers), Morne van den Bergh (Lions), Edwill van der Merwe (Hollywood Bets Sharks), Damian Willems (DHL Stormers), Grant Williams (Hollywood Bets Sharks).
Players on standby:
forward: Juarno Augustus (Ulster), Neethling Fouche (DHL Stormers), Bongi Mbonambi (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Salman Moerato (DHL Stormers), Asenathy Ntlabakaniye (Lions), Evan Roos (DHL Stormers), Vincent Situka (Hollywoodbets Sharks).
Bucks: Lukhanyo Am (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Sebastian de Klerk (Vodacom Bulls), Makazole Mapimpi (Hollywoodbets Sharks).