South Africa has selected the team for two rugby championship tests at their Australian home next month. They begin defending the title.
The experienced trio are on standby list in case coach Racy Erasmus, who was selected to a group of 37 players on Wednesday, met Wallabies in Johannesburg on August 16th and gets injured in Cape Town to meet up a week later.
It includes all the newest caps, Ethan Hooker (Utility Back), Acenati Nutravakanye, Born Venter (both props), Marnus van der Merwe (Hooker), and Kobbs Wiese (Utility Forward).
Baasprop Thomas Dutote is granted a mandatory two-week rest agreed with the British Prime Minister, while Cobbs’ brother Jasper Wease offers a four-week suspension.
Erasmus has already used almost 50 players in three Tests this year as he is trying to add depth to his team with the 2027 Rugby World Cup in mind.
“It’s always challenging to reduce teams (although we’ll beat Italy and Georgia this month), especially given how the expanded group of players reached, but we’ve always said we’ll choose a smaller, manageable team at the rugby championship,” Erasmus said.
“We probably have three players who can cover each position. One of the key pillars of our team is building team depth. There’s no better way to see what we can do than expose some of our younger players to the top teams in the world.”
Springbok also invited three South African winners in the recent Under-20 World Cup and trained alongside the team for experience.
They are the tournament’s outstanding performers Wing Cheswill Jooste and Scrumhalf Haashim Pead.
South African Squadron
forward: Little by little, Peter Steph Towatt, Jean Reuk Ti Plis, Eben Eben Etzebes, Vincent Cour, Siiko Rua, Malcolm Marx, Vonco Most, Franco Most, Acenatic Nutraster, Aceta Snee, Kuwaga Snee, Kuwaga Snyeman, Kwagga Snyeman, Kwagga Snye, Marnus of the Merwe, Marco of State, Ban Venter, Jan-Hendry West, Cobus Wise.
back: Kurt-Lee Arendse, Damian de Allende, Andre Esterhuizen, Aphelle Fassi, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Ethan Hooker, Jesse Kriel, Cheslin Kolbe, Willie Le Roux, Manie Libbok, Canan Moodie, Handre Pollard Williams, and Damian Willemse.