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Erasmus names 16 uncapped players for Springboks alignment camp

By Josh Raisey
Rassie Erasmus, the South Africa director of rugby, holds a tackle bag during the South Africa Springboks training session held at The Lensbury on November 22, 2022 in Teddington, England. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

Rassie Erasmus has named 16 uncapped players in his 43-man squad that will assemble in March for a two-day ‘alignment camp’.

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The camp will be the first time the Springboks have assembled since their World Cup triumph last year, and will give the players a chance to work with their new coaches Jerry Flannery, Tony Brown, Duane Vermeulen and former referee Jaco Peyper.

The squad will assemble on March 4 in Cape Town for the camp, and will include 19 members of the World Cup winning squad.

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Only four members of the squad are not currently based in South Africa, and that is the injured Japan-based quartet of Malcolm Marx, Kwagga Smith, Jesse Kriel and Faf de Klerk.

Nine of the uncapped players are forwards – prop Neethling Fouche, hookers Johan Grobbelaar, Andre-Hugo Venter, Marnus van der Merwe and Jan-Hendrik Wessels, lock Ruben van Heerden, and flankers Celimpilo Gumede, Cameron Hanekom and Ruan Venter.

The seven uncapped backs are scrum-half Sanele Nohamba, fly-halves Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Jordan Hendrikse, centres Suleiman Hartzenberg and Henco van Wyk, fullback Quan Horn, and utility back Morne van den Berg.

Looking ahead to the camp, Erasmus said: “We are delighted that the new coaching team will meet in person for the first time and that we will have the opportunity to present solid structures and the Springbok culture and way of doing things to the invited players.

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“The focus at this camp will be to get everyone on the same page for the 2024 season and we believe this will lay a good foundation for us looking forward.

“Jerry (Flannery) and Tony (Brown) are going to play vital roles in this coaching team, and we are excited to see them along with our other coaching staff put proper steps into action as we prepare for the challenging season ahead.”

Springbok alignment camp squad (in alphabetical order):

Forwards: Eben Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Neethling Fouche (DHL Stormers), Johan Grobbelaar (Vodacom Bulls), Celimpilo Gumede (Vodacom Bulls), Cameron Hanekom (Vodacom Bulls), Andre-Hugo Venter (DHL Stormers), Vincent Koch (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Elrigh Louw (Vodacom Bulls), Wilco Louw (Vodacom Bulls), Frans Malherbe (DHL Stormers), Bongi Mbonambi (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears), Ntuthuko Mchunu (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Salmaan Moerat (DHL Stormers), Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Ruan Nortje (Vodacom Bulls), Evan Roos (DHL Stormers), Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs), Gerhard Steenekamp (Vodacom Bulls), Marnus van der Merwe (Toyota Cheetahs), Ruben van Heerden (DHL Stormers), Marco van Staden (Vodacom Bulls), Ruan Venter (Emirates Lions), Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Vodacom Bulls).

Backs: Lukhanyo Am (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Kurt-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls), Faf de Klerk (Canon Eagles), Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (DHL Stormers), Suleiman Hartzenberg (DHL Stormers), Jaden Hendrikse (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Jordan Hendrikse (Emirates Lions), Quan Horn (Emirates Lions), Herschel Jantjies (DHL Stormers), Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles), Willie le Roux (Vodacom Bulls), Manie Libbok (DHL Stormers), Makazole Mapimpi (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Canan Moodie (Vodacom Bulls), Sanele Nohamba (Emirates Lions), Morne van den Berg (Emirates Lions), Henco van Wyk (Emirates Lions), Grant Williams (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers).

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Comments

6 Comments
R
Rugby 211 days ago

lekka man. plus no Fijians, unlike the Pacific Lions, they actively poach from Fiji, Samoan and Tonga. lets wait to see who “one flew over cuckoos nest’ will name in his squad

S
Shaylen 212 days ago

Preparing for the next 4 years. Still a bit shocked that Hacjivah Dayimani is not included

G
Grant 212 days ago

Very happy for Nohamba!

N
Nuno 212 days ago

Okay, I sure am glad. I hope we can extract as much as we can and utilize these players fully. Ngilonkhulu iSpringboks futhi ubonise ihawu kubamelenethu.

L
Lou Cifer 212 days ago

The quest for the 3-peat starts now gents😎🫡🥶

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GS 1 hour ago
Bundee Aki sends new reminder to All Blacks he's the one that got away

Interestingly, your dishonesty in not being truthful reflects on you. As explained to you and probably by many other people in the past, NZ is a multi-cultural country with a large percentage of the population being of Polynesian heritage.


Let me share a personal story that illustrates this. My cousin, a good Kiwi girl, fell in love and married a Samoan over 40 years ago. They started a family, and now their daughter is about to start her own.


Now, when the child is older, he/she can choose to play for ABs or Samoa—ABs via birth and Samoa via Grandparents. It is probably very likely, as the husband is a former AB, so a professional rugby career is a distinct possibility.


If he plays for ABs - given your state of mind, NZ has stolen him from Samoa...


There is natural immigration between NZ and the Islands. They are part of our community, and kids do come down on rugby scholarships to learn rugby and get an education.


On the other hand, Ireland specifically targeted adult professional rugby players, who they termed "project players," to cap them for Ireland. Among those numbers are people like Jarrod Payne, Aki, Lowe, CJ Stander, etc.


This "project "was run and funded by the IRFU to directly assist the Irish rugby team in addressing depth issues.


20% of the Irish run on team vs NZ at the WC, were in effect "project players" - maybe Jamieson GP is little different as don't think he was deliberately targeted unlike Aki/Lowe.


That you can honestly compare natural immigration between Islands and the Pacific, where the cultural makeup is similar vs. a targeted project set up by the IRFU, shows just how inherently dishonest you are.


The foolish thing about it is it embarrasses the Irish team when it's not necessary. As shown by the last test against the Boks, Ireland didn't need these project players to win, as they are a quality side without those players.


Instead, all they have done is give people the ability to detract from any achievements by pointing out the Irish brought their way to success.

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