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Springboks name 26-man squad for Stellenbosch training camp
Jacques Nienaber’s Springboks have named a 26-strong squad for a three-day training camp next weekend at Stellenbosch to begin preparations ahead of their November European tour. The group includes 17 South African-based players and nine who are currently plying their trade in Japan, but there is no recall for Elton Jantjies.
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A statement read: “All 26 players formed part of Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber’s squads that participated in the Castle Lager incoming series against Wales and the Castle Lager Rugby Championship. They will be in the camp until Wednesday, October 26, with a few of the players set to return to their teams for Vodacom United Rugby Championship duty a few days later.
“Canan Moodie, who is nursing a hamstring injury, is among those invited to the camp to allow the Springbok medical team to assess the extent of his injury, especially with the Nienaber and Mzwandile Stick, who will coach the SA A team, under the guidance of SA Rugby’s director of rugby Rassie Erasmus, set to announce a group of 54 players for the tour.
“The Springboks will play four Tests on consecutive Saturdays next month – against Ireland in Dublin on November 5, France in Marseille on November 12, Italy in Genoa on November 19 and England in London on November 26 on the Castle Lager outgoing tour.
“The SA A team, coached by Stick, will play two mid-week matches – against Munster on Thursday, November 10, and the Bristol Bears a week later on November 17. The Springbok and SA A touring squads will be named on Friday, October 28, with the Bok squad set to gather in Dublin on Sunday, October 30.
“A further 20 SA A players are set to depart for Ireland a week later on Saturday, November 5, to begin their preparations for the clash against Munster in Cork, where they will be joined by a few players from the initial 34-man touring squad for the two SA A matches. The England and France-based players in the touring squad will be released to their respective clubs following the Italy Test.
Nienaber said about his Springboks squad: “We are departing for the year-end tour next week Saturday, so it is vital that we get the players back into our structures and our usual training programme so that they are raring to go by the time we depart for Ireland.
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“There are some players who didn’t get much game time in the Castle Lager Rugby Championship and who will benefit immensely from the additional game time next week in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship, while it is important for the Japanese-based players to get back to national training.
“It may be a short camp, but we have clear objectives, and we know what boxes we need to tick as we look forward to what is going to be a challenging year-end tour. We are facing the No1 and No2 teams in the world in Ireland and France, and then we line up against Italy and England, both of whom will test us to the limit, so the sooner we get into the swing of things, the better.
“I would like to extend a sincere thank you to the Japanese clubs for their cooperation in granting us permission to select the national players plying their trade in Japan for the England Test. We said from the start of the season that we need to use every opportunity to build momentum and squad depth with an eye on the World Cup next year, and that match plays a vital role in this process as England will enter the international spectacle as one of the top teams to watch.”
Springboks Stellenbosch training camp squad:
Props: Thomas du Toit (Cell C Sharks), Steven Kitshoff, Frans Malherbe (both DHL Stormers), Ox Nche (Cell C Sharks);
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Hookers: Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears), Bongi Mbonambi (Cell C Sharks);
Locks: Lood de Jager (Wild Knights), Eben Etzebeth (Cell C Sharks), Salmaan Moerat (DHL Stormers);
Loose forwards: Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz), Siya Kolisi (Cell C Sharks), Elrigh Louw (Vodacom Bulls), Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs);
Utility forwards: Deon Fourie (DHL Stormers), Franco Mostert (Honda Heat);
Scrum-halves: Faf de Klerk (Yokohama Canon Eagles), Jaden Hendrikse (Cell C Sharks);
Fly-half: Johan Goosen (Vodacom Bulls);
Centres: Jesse Kriel (Yokohama Canon Eagles), Damian de Allende (Wild Knights);
Outside backs: Kurt-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls), Willie le Roux (Toyota Verblitz), Makazole Mapimpi (Cell C Sharks), Canan Moodie (Vodacom Bulls), Sbu Nkosi (Vodacom Bulls);
Utility back: Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers).
Comments on RugbyPass
🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
26 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
26 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
26 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
26 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
26 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
11 Go to comments