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Boks name 33-man squad for Pumas without two conquerors of All Blacks
By Josh Raisey
Rassie Erasmus has named his 33-man South Africa squad that will assemble in Durban on Thursday in preparation for the final two rounds of the Rugby Championship.
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The Springboks host Argentina at Hollywoodbets Kings Park on Saturday, September 27, before a rematch at Twickenham’s Allianz Stadium a week later.
Fresh from their demolition of the All Blacks in Wellington, which left the Championship wide open, Erasmus has retained much of his squad, but will be without lock Lood de Jager, who hobbled from the pitch after 10 minutes against New Zealand, and full-back Aphelele Fassi, who left the field on a stretcher later in the half.
De Jager and Fassi have joined a lengthy list of absentees, which includes Jean-Luc du Preez, Gerhard Steenekamp, Frans Malherbe, Salmaan Moerat and Kurt-Lee Arendse.
“This group of players have been together for over 13 weeks now, and they’ve shown that they are the right players for this big task against the Pumas,” said Erasmus.
“We’ve chopped and changed our squad a fair bit this season, playing a total of 46 players in our last eight matches, including in the Barbarians match, and by training together almost daily, we are confident that these are the players who can give us the best shot to try to retain the title.
“We are blessed with talent in South Africa, so as sad as we are for players such as Lood, Jean-Luc, Aphelele, Kurt-Lee, and many others, we have capable guys to fill their boots.
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“We are also fortunate to have so many versatile players who can play a few different positions, and they are equally adept in each of them, regardless of what position they play.”
Springboks squad:
Forwards: Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz), Thomas du Toit (Bath), Eben Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Vincent Koch (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Siya Kolisi (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Wilco Louw (Vodacom Bulls), Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears), Bongi Mbonambi (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Franco Mostert (Honda Heat), Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Ruan Nortje (Vodacom Bulls), Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs), RG Snyman (Leinster), Marnus van der Merwe (Scarlets), Marco van Staden (Vodacom Bulls), Boan Venter (Edinburgh), Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Vodacom Bulls), Jasper Wiese (Urayasu D-Rocks).
Backs: Damian de Allende (Wild Knights), Faf de Klerk (Canon Eagles), Andre Esterhuizen (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (DHL Stormers), Ethan Hooker (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Cheslin Kolbe (Tokyo Sungoliath), Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles), Manie Libbok (Kintetsu Liners), Makazole Mapimpi (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Canan Moodie (Vodacom Bulls), Handre Pollard (Vodacom Bulls), Cobus Reinach (DHL Stormers), Morne van den Berg (Lions), Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers), Grant Williams (Hollywoodbets Sharks).