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Head Coach Rassie Erasmus has called up a squad of 45 players for the first Bok test squad of 2025, and just under half of whom play their rugby in South Africa, while those competing in Japan’s JRLO contribute the second biggest group.
The Springboks will kick off their season with the Qatar Airways Cup against the Barbarians in Cape Town on Saturday 28 June, the first encounter ever between the sides on South African soil, before the Castle Lager Incoming Series which includes two fixtures against Italy in Pretoria and Gqeberha on 5 and 12 July, and Georgia in Nelspruit on 19 July.
The Vodacom Bulls players and RG Snyman, who were involved in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship Grand Final, as well as those who competed in the Gallagher Premiership final, Handre Pollard and Thomas du Toit, will join the squad this week but are unlikely to feature in the non-caped match against the Barbarians in Cape Town, said Erasmus as he addressed the media to discuss the squad selections, injury updates and more.
He said, “Our first week of training went well, and it offered us a chance to assess our depth and measure the level at which the players are currently, with an eye on the international season.”
He added that the diverse Bok coaching team constantly builds their IP and knowledge from the other top leagues around the world.
“We saw things we can maybe use and learnings we can take away from the Premiership and the Top 14 and all of the club games - Super Rugby has the speed and excitement back in it. It helps us to have someone from Ireland who worked with England and someone who has worked in France to learn - if we only stick with what we know in South Africa, we will never learn.”
The South African Head Coach said they will continue their team rotation policy that helped them secure 11 wins in 13 Test matches in 2024. 50 players were used in those 13 Test matches, including 12 newly capped players.
The Bok coaching braintrust believes this is the best way forward to help build squad depth and experience for the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia.
“For sure, we've got one eye on the World Cup, but what's the old saying - if you look too far ahead, you forget about the present. So now we want to try and win all the games. That's not being arrogant. That's the mindset. While at the same time, broadening our squad depth and experience.
Our goal is to ensure that by the next World Cup, most of the players have more than 15 Test caps,” added Erasmus.
The breakdown of where the Springbok players ply their trade in the first test squad are:
South Africa - 27
Japan - 10 (we have included Kurt-Lee Arendse for this)
England - 3
Ireland - 2
Scotland - 1
Wales - 1
France - 1
Of the challenge that the Barbarians will pose, coached by Robbie Deans and a team that includes several experienced internationals, Erasmus said, “It’s difficult to plan for the Barbarians because they are a team consisting of players from many different countries, so our focus in that match will be our game and what we want to achieve.
The Barbarians are a set-up where they remove the shackles and the pressure, and the Barbarians play entertaining rugby and almost do not worry about the consequences.
It will serve as a good opportunity for the players who have returned from Japan to get back into the swing of things, and perhaps to give a few players who have not played Test rugby a feel of what it is to play at this level.”
The two-time Rugby World Cup-winning coach said of the tests against the European opposition in South Africa, “The two Italy games, everybody's expecting us to beat them. But they were really competitive in the first two rounds of the Six Nations, and then they ran a little bit low on player depth as they don't have a lot of players. They'll be physical, and they were really gutsy on defence.
For the last Georgia game - all of the Georgians are physical, and if you take them lightly up front, the whole game becomes a mess.”
Erasmus named nine uncapped players in the squad selection. The uncapped players in the group are Cobus Wiese, Marnus van der Merwe, Neethling Fouche, Asenathi Ntlabakanye, Renzo du Plessis, Vincent Tshituka, Ethan Hooker, and Ntokozo Makhaza, and Boan Venter.
Venter is a former Toyota Cheetahs prop now playing for Edinburgh, earned his first callup and the Springboks coach said, “Boan has been consistent for Edinburgh in the Vodacom URC and the EPCR Challenge Cup, and he is familiar with the South African structures after playing for the Toyota Cheetahs and coming through our junior ranks, so we are looking forward to seeing him in action on the field.”
Scrum half selection is one area which posed a selector's headache, with the Bulls' Ambrose Papier one of the unlucky ones to miss out.
Rassie Erasmus said, “Ambrose has been in the setup and he definitely is Springbok material and maybe it's just the familiarity we have with the current scrum halves - we must just be open-minded with that.” He added that a number of the SA teams have quality halfbacks and added, “Those guys are definitely Springbok-level”.
Another player unlucky to miss out on selection was the Bulls' Sebastian de Klerk. “There's no two ways about it that he's also knocking really hard on the door,” said the head coach.
Initially, a group of 55 players had been called up for the Springbok alignment camps, and some had dropped out due to injury.
Erasmus explained, “There are a number of players out with long-term injuries, while others are set to return from injury in the next few weeks or months, so they will complete their rehabilitation at their clubs and franchises.
In terms of the other players released, we feel we have good cover in those positions at this stage, but they are all on standby to join us at any time if we need to call on them.”
Props Gerhard Steenekamp and Ntuthuko Mchunu, Lukhanyo Am (centre), Pieter-Steph du Toit (utility forward), Cameron Hanekom, and Juarno Augustus (both No 8s) are all injured from that group - never mind a longer injury list of players who were not called up to the alignment camps or injured in the closing stages of the URC.
Those include Trevor Nyakane, Frans Malherbe, Deon Fourie, Elrigh Louw and Cameron Hanekom. In the case of Juarno Augustus, the player is switching clubs from Northampton Saints to Ulster, and he has yet to receive his medical clearance.
SA Rugby confirmed that five players have been released back to their unions - Jaden Hendrikse (scrumhalf), Jordan Hendrikse (flyhalf), Quan Horn (fullback), Renzo du Plessis (flanker), and Ntokozo Makhaza (utility back).
Ntokozo Makhaza is a Varsity Cup player and was the initial surprise inclusion in the alignment camps, but the Bok coach sees a bright future for the 23-year-old. "It's been a pleasure to work with him. He's consistently been the top Varsity Cup player, and especially in terms of point scoring, probably one of the best in the competition's history.
You sometimes wonder, is this one of those players who slipped through the cracks? It's been good to see what he brings."
Forwards: Lood de Jager (Wild Knights), Jean-Luc du Preez (Sale Sharks), Thomas du Toit (Bath), Eben Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Neethling Fouche (DHL Stormers), Jean Kleyn (Munster), Vincent Koch, Siya Kolisi (both Hollywoodbets Sharks), Wilco Louw (Vodacom Bulls), Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears), Bongi Mbonambi (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Salmaan Moerat (DHL Stormers), Franco Mostert (Honda Heat), Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Ruan Nortje (Vodacom Bulls), Asenathi Ntlabakanye (Emirates Lions), Evan Roos (DHL Stormers), Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs), RG Snyman (Leinster), Vincent Tshituka (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Marco van Staden (Vodacom Bulls), Marnus van der Merwe (Scarlets), Boan Venter (Edinburgh), Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Vodacom Bulls), Cobus Wiese (Vodacom Bulls), Jasper Wiese (Urayasu D-Rocks).
Backs: Kurt-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls), Damian de Allende (Wild Knights), Faf de Klerk (Canon Eagles), Andre Esterhuizen, Aphelele Fassi (both Hollywoodbets Sharks), Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (DHL Stormers), Ethan Hooker (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Cheslin Kolbe (Tokyo Sungoliath), Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles), Willie le Roux (Vodacom Bulls), Manie Libbok (DHL Stormers), Makazole Mapimpi (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Canan Moodie (Vodacom Bulls), Handre Pollard (Leicester Tigers), Cobus Reinach (Montpellier), Morne van den Berg, Edwilll van der Merwe (both Emirates Lions), Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers), Grant Williams (Hollywoodbets Sharks).
