Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has included three Rugby World Cup winners who have not seen action this year due to injury in the squad for the Rugby Championship Tests against the All Blacks.
The Boks welcome back prop Steven Kitshoff, scrumhalf Jaden Hendrikse and Canan Moodie for the matches at Ellis Park on August 31 and Cape Town Stadium on September 7.
Erasmus has also recalled No 8 Jasper Wiese, centre André Esterhuizen — both World Cup winners in 2023 — and lock Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg for the 37-man squad that will assemble in Johannesburg on Thursday.
The Bok coach has opted to increase the squad from 33 players to 37 for the two sold-out Tests.
With locks Franco Mostert, Lood de Jager and Jean Kleyn still on the injured list, Janse van Rensburg, who played his first and only Test against Argentina in Gqeberha in 2021, earned his call-up back to the national squad.
The squad features 31 of the 33 players who travelled to Australia for SA’s Rugby Championship Tests against the Wallabies in Brisbane and Perth, where they collected a full house of points for the first time on tour. Those results also marked the first time since 1998 that the Boks registered consecutive victories in Australasia.
With Hendrikse back from injury and Jan-Hendrik Wessels equally adept at prop and hooker, Morné van den Berg and Johan Grobbelaar were left out for these two Tests.
Kitshoff (knee injury), Hendrikse (shoulder) and Moodie (finger) have all recovered fully and have played in the Currie Cup, while Wiese and Esterhuizen are back in contention after suspensions.
Test limit
Apart from Mostert, De Jager and Kleyn, the other players ruled out due to injury are No 8 Evan Roos and scrumhalves Herschel Jantjies and Faf de Klerk.
“New Zealand are ranked third in the world, and they always test us to the limit,” Erasmus said. “We also saw last week what they can do under pressure when they defeated Argentina 42-10 after going down in the first Test against the Pumas.
“We know these two Tests will provide a completely different challenge to what we’ve faced against an Australian team that is still finding their feet with a new coach and a bunch of young players coming through the ranks.
“It’s good to have Steven, Jaden and Canan back from injury, with Jasper and Andre. They are all Rugby World Cup winners who have delivered quality performances consistently against the top teams in the world.
“As a team we are in a good position in terms of squad depth with 32 of the 33 players on tour playing against the Wallabies [retained]. The only exception was RG Snyman, who suffered a foot niggle. We have full faith in the young players to showcase their talent again against a completely different opponent in New Zealand.”
Erasmus said Snyman should be available for selection for the Ellis Park Test after having two weeks to recover from the foot niggle he picked up at a training session in Brisbane.
On the decision to select Wessels as his third-choice hooker, Erasmus said: “Jan-Hendrik is a versatile player who enjoys playing prop and hooker. We also have Marco van Staden, who can slot into the middle of the front row if needed, hence we opted against selecting another hooker.”
SA squad:
Props: Thomas du Toit, Steven Kitshoff, Vincent Koch, Frans Malherbe, Ox Nche, Gerhard Steenekamp, Jan-Hendrik Wessels
Hookers: Malcolm Marx, Bongi Mbonambi
Locks: Eben Etzebeth, Salmaan Moerat, Ruan Nortjé, RG Snyman, Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg
Loose forwards: Ben-Jason Dixon, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi (capt), Elrigh Louw, Kwagga Smith, Marco van Staden, Jasper Wiese
Scrumhalves: Jaden Hendrikse, Cobus Reinach, Grant Williams
Flyhalves: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Manie Libbok, Handré Pollard
Centres: Lukhanyo Am, Damian de Allende, André Esterhuizen, Jesse Kriel
Outside backs: Kurt-Lee Arendse, Aphelele Fassi, Cheslin Kolbe, Willie le Roux, Makazole Mapimpi, Canan Moodie.
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