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The 3 rookies who must start for the Springboks from now on
By Josh Raisey
In a year that has been dubbed a “rebirth” for South Africa, head coach Rassie Erasmus has not been afraid of some experimentation.
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The world champions have welcomed a new coaching set-up, a new style and have seen plenty of new faces join the fold so far in their ten matches in 2024.
Indeed, Erasmus himself even pointed this out on X after securing The Rugby Championship title on Saturday with a 48-7 victory over Argentina, saying they will “benefit in the long run” from using 49 players this year.
Some players have taken their chance this year, some have not, but the Boks Office team have listed the three players that have to play for the Springboks from now on after breakout seasons.
Host Hanyani Shimange opened with lock Ruan Nortje, who has returned to the Springboks squad this season after winning a solitary cap in 2022.
Hi 🇿🇦 Maybe just an update to say thank you ! We used 35 Players in the Rugby Championship and 49 in total in the 10 test matches 2024! Thanks for all the passionate support win or. lose. We cetainly willl benefit in the long run!!!
Danko 🇿🇦— ☝🏼Johan Erasmus (@RassieRugby) September 30, 2024
There is no denying that the 26-year-old has been the beneficiary of an extensive injury list in the second-row department, but he still needed to take his chance, which Shimange believes he did.
“For me it’s Ruan Nortje [who commands a starting position]. “He slotted in seamlessly, his work rate, controls the lineout. Obviously there are guys that are injured that will come back in the mix.
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“For me, what he has shown now, he’s slotted in now, you want that hard-working guy, he’s got the good skills with the ball, maybe not the most abrasive carrier – that’s probably the work-on – but for a guy that’s come in, he’s slotted in brilliantly.”
Jean de Villiers added two players to the list, fullback Aphelele Fassi and fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, although the latter has been ruled out for the rest of the year with a knee injury.
Like Nortje, Fassi was brought in from the cold this year after missing the 2023 World Cup, and has enjoyed a “rebirth”.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu, conversely, is the only one to have made his debut in 2024, coming off the bench in the Boks’ 41-13 victory over Wales at Twickenham and made huge strides on the Test scene during The Rugby Championship before his knee injury ended his season.
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“It’s difficult not to select [Fassi] now,” de Villiers said. “But there’s tough competition there with Willie [le Roux] and Damian [Willemse] coming back.
“Sacha is part of the conversation at fly-half.
“I think we’re in a situation now where you can pick and choose depending on the game and who you’re playing against. So conditions, who you are playing against, what does your pack look like etc. and then you select accordingly. With Fassi that’s the case, with Sacha that’s the case as well.”
Boks Office guest Deon Fourie said that wingers Cheslin Kolbe and Kurt-Lee Arendse cannot be overlooked despite a host of players nipping at their heels.
De Villiers replied: “You’ve still got Edwill [van der Merwe], you’ve still got [Makazole] Mapimpi who played so well every time he got the opportunity this year, you’ve still got Canan Moodie, you’ve got Kurt-Lee and Cheslin, Fassi can slot in on the wing as well, so the depth that we have is just next level.”