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'Well done': Title-chasing Sale hailed as club with third-highest Springboks pick
Rassie Erasmus has hailed the Mancunian flavour to his Springboks squad to face the Lions as five of Alex Sanderson’s Gallagher Premiership title-chasing Sale Sharks gained inclusion on Saturday in a 46-strong squad selection featuring players from 19 different clubs spread across five different countries.
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Twenty-four picks were South African based, eight in France, seven in England, five in Japan and two in Ireland. Of that, the Durban-based Sharks had the greatest club representation, accounting for nine players, while the next best were the Stormers with eight.
Then came Sale with the third-largest representation of five, the World Cup-winning pair Faf de Klerk and Lood de Jager joined in the Springboks squad by 30-cap Coenie Oosthuizen, four-cap Dan du Preez and 13-cap Jean-Luc du Preez, a trio that wouldn’t have been involved when South Africa were conquering the world and defeating England in Japan in November 2019.
With just a single Sale player – Tom Curry – earning selection in Warren Gatland’s Lions squad, the five-strong Sharks contingent chosen by the Springboks underlined the influence that South Africa wields in the Premiership.
“The nice thing about the Sale set-up is there are a lot of South African guys who have played and been in the mix, and now Jean-Luc and his brother and Connie are also in the mix. It hasn’t always been a lot but these are guys we think that are in sync, guys we have access to, guys that play regularly with Faf,” explained Erasmus at his squad announcement media conference.
BREAKING: Bok squad for the Lions named ?#LionsRugby #Springboks https://t.co/8udPJSvRwI
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) June 5, 2021
“When guys are playing a game plan and you have to rely on a nine who in the Springboks, let’s say with Jean-Luc, Dan and Connie, they are three new guys but they must jump together in the lineout and scrum together and then in general play they must mix with Faf, so it makes sense for us in that regard and especially because we feel the high performance programme at Sale is really good.
“Look, it’s terrible to lose the players (to non-South African clubs) because we don’t have the money. We desperately want to keep them but when you lose them you lose to a club like that where there are a lot of other South Africans and they are coached well, well done to Sale.
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“There are a few guys that are unlucky like Akker (van der Merwe), (Rohan) Janse van Rensburg was injured at one stage so there is still a lot of boys that one day might make it in the next two or three years but we are very chuffed with what is going on at Sale.”
The Springboks’ other English-based picks were Saracens tighthead Vincent Koch and uncapped Leicester No8 Jasper Wiese. Montpellier were the dominant French club, providing three players in the uncapped Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg, Cobus Reinach and Handre Pollard, while the two Irish-based players were the Munster duo, RG Snyman and Damian de Allende.
Fans hoping for a full-on final in Italy on June 19 have had their hopes dashed https://t.co/B33Vvp6P2X
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) June 5, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
Dear Robbie, Please return to the Crusaders next season. Sincerely, Scott
1 Go to commentsDid the big E call the Irish the ‘White Can’ts’? That would’ve been good
28 Go to commentsDalton Papalii will be lucky to be selected on the Matchday 23. Ardie Savea, Ethan Blackadder, Luke Jacobson, and Peter Lauki are all as good or better openside flankers
9 Go to commentsScott Barrett is a lock and they have a much longer shelf life than a loose forward. Far more likely that Barrett will still demand a starting position based on performance at age 33 at RWC 2027 than Savea, whose explosive athleticism will have declined and he will in all likelihood have been surpassed by Hoskins Sotutu, Wallace Siti, Peter Lauki and Brayden Iose.
9 Go to commentsExtremely frustrating to get yet more speculation over whether or not Eben actually counted 12 players or not, but honestly big respect to McCloskey for keeping it classy and not pointing out Etzebeth’s hypocrisy. The Irish are a popular team outside of Ireland because they do their talking on the pitch, and its honestly a PR masterclass that they’re keeping it that way following Etzebeth’s provocation.
28 Go to commentsGood option for the lineout lost there.
1 Go to commentsIt’s not like Saffas have a long history of spouting absolute shite at any & every occasion. Oh wait… The dangers of an inferior third world education strike again.
28 Go to commentsI’m so glad we’re revisiting this. Really needs to be dissected further. I’m also so glad that a guy in the stands who wasn’t anywhere near the field when any of it would have been said (and even confirms this) has taken the lead and commented as Ireland. Definitely cleared it all up. This article would be hilarious if it wasn’t so misleading.
28 Go to commentsits such a shame he hasn’t achieved more success at club level. He’s really not been a potent finisher for a while now, but he’s still excellent in the kick chase. That’s the kind of skillset that generally only gets appreciated when you’re playing in premiership and european finals. I’m not sure whether the challenge cup counts given the quality of the competition seems lower than in previous years, but his duel with Mapimpi should be enthralling.
1 Go to commentsThe point is the irish players were arrogant,call it like you want sugar coat it aswell but they were you could see it in their way they handeled themselfs on the field when they got something right so dont tell me it was not arrogance it was,you can fool other people but not me,and to say to one of our players see you in the final put a nail in the coffin for this bullsh@t,just be grown men and accept it that you were arrogant,you could if seen it from a mile away, and then you lost to the allblacks what a cocky move that didnt work out for you ,Eben was right when he said u were arrogant,the point is you will deny it because you lost it all just grow some balls and move on we had won you lost accept it.
28 Go to comments“summer tour of North and South America” so its a summer tour of america?
1 Go to commentsEverybody is giving the Irish players the benefit of the doubt in ‘what they meant’, but none of these pundits or commentators offer the same courtesy to Eben. I don’t think Eben went, 1, 2, 3… etc. What might have happened is he didn’t count and when the 3rd or 5th guy said he went, hang on why are so many of them saying this… and then started to concentrate on it more and more as players continue to say it. So no, he didn’t count it, he realised many Irish players said it and made an assumption based on that… The Irish team was VERY confident at the time and I do believe they believed they were going to win the World Cup, which borders a bit on the arrogant side…
28 Go to commentsI can see how some of the Irish players would have said”see you in the final” as a gentle comment after a victory. It’s open to interpretation but it’s clumsy language. I don’t know the fella but I assure you Eben doesn’t have an axe to grind with Ireland. He has never been the media seeking pro. Oh and BTW it is I’ll be our winter in July so won’t be wet.
28 Go to comments*McCloskey*: _I saw this clip. Like, I wasn’t playing that game; I was in the stands…so you don't know sh!t in other words, infact you know just as much as Goode on this matter. I will believe the guy who was on the pitch when things were said as appose to two people speculating over what was said._
28 Go to comments@ turlough dream on buddy. Your boys are in for one tough time down in sa this summer…
28 Go to commentsI think Goode is looking to establish a platform for himself. Eben said “Probably” so that suggests he wasn’t counting. It’s an estimate Goode. I think even with your short and uneventful experience with the Sharks you probably realise winding up Saffas will get you some airtime. It’s a none event. Move on
28 Go to commentsRugby has never been as structured and synthetically pleasing as it is at this moment. The game is simply beautiful and messing with it too much will ruin it for everyone. I can't help but feel that over the past decade or so many rules have been changed to accommodate a certain hemisphere and counter another. Perhaps I am wrong but I somehow don’t think so.
2 Go to commentsNoted some excellent defensive steals from the Rebs last week against the Reds, largely J Canham, I think. It’s not a Rolls Royce but they are a real threat with their defensive line out at the beginning matches. What do you make of Canham Nick, WBs squad material?
86 Go to commentsCoin flip between Ardie and Scott Barrett. Both have their pros and cons, and both would probably be decent. Ardie has way more passion on the field, but that hasn’t always translated into the best decisions. They will both turn 34 at the next World Cup, so both will most likely have their best days a few years behind them. It’s hard to imagine now, but looking at young players coming through Ardie will probably be under the most pressure to retain his place in the team. Beauden Barrett also an outside chance if Razor sees him as the first choice 10.
9 Go to commentsQuality stuff from Flats. Rugby can’t replace football nor should we want it to. I think the ‘product’ (awful term sorry) now is absolutely fantastic. Growing the game shouldn’t be at the expense of losing its brutal beauty.
2 Go to comments