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Boks without another RWC-winning titan after naming Rugby Championship squad

South Africa's players acknowledge the crowd at the end of the second Rugby Union test match between South Africa and Ireland at Kings Park stadium in Durban on July 13, 2024. (Photo by PHILL MAGAKOE / AFP)

Rassie Erasmus has named his 33-player South Africa squad for the Rugby Championship, revealing yet more injuries.

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Faf de Klerk has become the latest member of the Boks’ lengthy injury list, joining fellow scrumhalves Jaden Hendrikse and Herschel Jantjies. Cobus Reinach, Morne van den Berg and Grant Williams are the three No9s selected in their stead.

There is only one new member to the squad from the ones that have assembled already this year, with Bulls lock Ruan Nortje returning to the national set-up to take the place of the injured Franco Mostert.

Video Spacer

BJ Dixon reacts on his first Test start

Video Spacer

BJ Dixon reacts on his first Test start

Nortje has not represented the Springboks since 2022.

Five debutants this year – Jan-Hendrik Wessels (utility forward), Johan Grobbelaar (hooker), Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (utility back), Ben-Jason Dixon (utility forward) and van den Berg – have all retained their place in the squad, who will reconvene in Johannesburg in preparation to take on Australia in Brisbane on Saturday, August 10.

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The Boks’ suspension list has also grown, with Andre Esterhuizen, who awaits a disciplinary hearing for his red card, joining the already-banned Jasper Wiese in missing out on selection.

“This is a quality group of players, which includes a mixture of youth and experience, and we believe this is the best group of players we could select for this tough assignment in the Castle Lager Rugby Championship,” said Erasmus.

“We rested some players before the match against Portugal to recharge for this competition and we are excited to see the energy they’ll bring back to the squad. We’ve also included a few younger players who made a strong statement in the Tests we played so far this season.”

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Looking ahead to their upcoming opponents, Erasmus said: “We faced New Zealand in the Rugby World Cup final and won by a point, and we all know how tough the competition and rivalry is between the teams.

“Australia are also a quality team, and we’ve seen historically that are a force to be reckoned at home, while Argentina are a physical and competitive team and always push us to the limit, so we are under no illusions about what lies ahead.

“But we’re also excited to launch this new edition of the tournament and test ourselves against the southern hemisphere sides once again.”

South Africa squad
Forwards: Ben-Jason Dixon (DHL Stormers), Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz), Thomas du Toit (Bath), Eben Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Johan Grobbelaar (Vodacom Bulls), Vincent Koch (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Siya Kolisi (captain – Racing 92), Elrigh Louw (Vodacom Bulls), Frans Malherbe (DHL Stormers), Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears), Bongi Mbonambi (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Salmaan Moerat (DHL Stormers), Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Ruan Nortje (Vodacom Bulls), Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs), RG Snyman (Leinster), Gerhard Steenekamp (Vodacom Bulls), Marco van Staden (Vodacom Bulls), Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Vodacom Bulls).

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Backs: Lukhanyo Am (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Kurt-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls), Damian de Allende (Wild Knights), Aphelele Fassi (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (DHL Stormers), Cheslin Kolbe (Suntory Sungoliath), Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles), Willie le Roux (Vodacom Bulls), Makazole Mapimpi (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Manie Libbok (DHL Stormers), Handre Pollard (Leicester Tigers), Cobus Reinach (Montpellier), Morne van den Berg (Emirates Lions), Grant Williams (Hollywoodbets Sharks).

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Comments

101 Comments
N
NE 245 days ago

No genuine test level backs? Interesting.

D
Dan 246 days ago

The only RWC winning Bok that was ever important was Wanye Barnes.

He’s the only reason they win the last one after all.

b
bob 246 days ago

A jolly good squad. Nice to see some new faces.

B
Bull Shark 246 days ago

The headline should read:

SA without another Titan, but nobody cares cause it makes no difference.

W
Wayneo 246 days ago

Pity Evan Roos is not in the squad so that he could get another opportunity to prove his worth before Cameron Hanekom makes his debut, but just goes to show how healthy SA Rugby is at the moment that a player of his caliber is left at home.

Only a matter of time now before Cameron Hanekom makes his debut at 8 for the Springboks. After that guys like Roos & Venter will have to settle for second best and fight for the right to wear the no 8 jersey.

T
Tom 246 days ago

Probably the first time in Faf’s life he's been described as a “titan”

B
Barry 246 days ago

No Nkosi? Hope it’s nothing to do with his failed drugs test.

How apt that his club team is the ‘Cheetahs.’

E
Ed the Duck 246 days ago

Had expected the player that the headline was referring to might have been Sbu Nkosi…but no!

W
Warren 246 days ago

Quite impressive considering the players who are not there:

Steven Kitshoff
Trevor Nyakane
Franco Mostert
Lood De Jager
Jasper Wiese
Jean Kleyn
Marvin Orie
Evan Roos
Phepsi Buthelezi
Faf De Klerk
Jaden Hendrikse
Canan Moodie
Damian Willemse
Edwill Vd Merwe
Andre Esterhuizen

The list goes on… 👏

f
finn 246 days ago

33 players isn’t very many!

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EllenMoody 4 hours ago
Great moments in Lions tour history – JPR’s drop goal and the All Blacks' brutal revenge

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J
JWH 5 hours ago
'Matches between Les Bleus and the All Blacks are rarely for the faint-hearted.'

Do you hear yourself? Do you have any concept of world view? Have you tried looking into why people call Ireland ‘arrogant’? Obviously not.


We started calling you arrogant when you called our captain a ‘shit Richie McCaw’. In New Zealand. On our turf. Don’t think that kind of behaviour really calls for respect, does it.


NZ don’t really talk ourselves up, if anything the rugby does it for us. No kiwi goes in the media and says: ‘We are gonna win the RWC’. However, I have found many instance of IRISH media saying that the Irish should win, without a doubt. THAT is disrespectful.


The All Blacks have played good rugby, even some of the best rugby ever, at many points in history, but I don’t think you could find a single instance of one of those players, or the NZ media, saying that they should whitewash their opponents. Ever.


Now, onto your analysis. Ireland DID choke the QF. They beat the champions, they were ranked first coming into it, a lot of players at the peaks of their powers. Its hard to say that they didn’t choke. Obviously, their preparation was just not as good as NZ, and thats all there really is to it.


If Ireland had repsected that ABs team and that QF more, maybe they would’ve prepared properly for it and won. But they didn’t.


Maybe if Ireland had won their QF last RWC, they wouldn’t have to be in the same pool as SA and Scotland. I mean, its called a draw for a reason. NZ got third last RWC, so of course they should get a reasonable pool, and they were ranked pretty highly too. If you want to talk about easy pools, look no further than Pool 3 with England, Australia, Fiji, and Georgia I think?


Now, obviously you don’t remember how that QF ended, so I’ll go ahead and rectify that. Ireland reclaimed the ball off kickoff and marched for 20ish phases into the opposition half. Savea then won a turnover, but the referee refused to give it, so play went on. Finally, at the NZ 22, after not giving up a single penatly in 25 phases of hard defense, Sam Whitelock, the most capped All Black of all time, wins the game with an incredible steal.


Now, NZ players having a go at Ireland. Do you cry when you get hit after making the first swing? We all know Sexton is a prick on the field, its just the truth. And Ioane never backs down from a clash, so he thought he should humble a player who has never won an international knockout game who thought he was all that. Don’t really see the issue, its poetic justice really.

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