Rassie Erasmus clears up confusion over latest Springboks squad update

South Africa head coach Rassie Erasmus has revealed Faf de Klerk’s call-up to the Springboks squad was a precaution to cover Morne van den Berg rather than replacing hooker Bongi Mbonambi.

Having originally missed out on the South Africa squad that will take on the All Blacks over the next two weeks in the Rugby Championship, scrum-half de Klerk was called into the Bok squad while his fellow double World Cup-winning team-mate Mbonambi remained home.

While Erasmus appeared to be pulling off a similar move to the 2023 World Cup, where fly-half Handre Pollard was drafted in to replace injured hooker Malcolm Marx, de Klerk’s recall is slightly more innocuous on this occasion.

With Marx, Marnus van der Merwe and Jan-Hendrik Wessels already with the squad in New Zealand, Erasmus recently said that they did not see the need to call in any cover at hooker, and took the opportunity to provide cover for van den Berg, who was carrying a niggle but trained fully on Monday.

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New Zealand

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South Africa

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“Faf did not replace Bongi,” Erasmus said. “Morne van den Berg suffered a niggle at training, but he trained fully today, so he’s looking good. Faf was called up as a precaution. He is an experienced player and brings a lot to the team.

“In Bongi’s case, there’s an illness in his family, and he’ll join us as quickly as he can, but we have sufficient cover in that position with Malcom (Marx), Marnus (van der Merwe), and Jan-Hendrik (Wessels), who can also cover prop.”

With various niggles throughout the Bok squad, Erasmus explained why he has opted to name his squad for the showdown at Eden Park closer to matchday rather than the usual procedure of announcing it earlier in the week.

“It’s a tough match for both sides, and they are a team that analyse thoroughly,” he added.

“Over and above that, we are not sure what team they’ll announce, while we also have a few injured players at home, and one or two who are not available for selection this week, so there’s a bit of an unknown factor for us both. By announcing our team later in the week, we believe it will even things out more.”