Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has named his 37-man squad for the upcoming Castle Lager Rugby Championship, where South Africa will face Australia in two matches next month.
The matches will take place on August 16th at Ellis Park in Johannesburg and on August 23rd at DHL Stadium in Cape Town.
The squad includes 24 World Cup winners, 5 debutants (from July), and the newly crowned World Rugby U20 Championship winners, Bathobele Hlekani, Cheswill Jooste and Haashim Pead.
๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐บ๐๐ ๐ฒ๐
๐ฝ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต๐๐ ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐พ๐๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป:
“We probably have three players who can cover each position, which is important in this competition. It was a thorough process to narrow down the group to 37 players. One of our key pillars as a team is to build squad depth, and there is no better way to see what some of the younger players are capable of than to expose them to some of the top teams in the world,โ he explained on Wednesday, July 23rd.
Looking ahead, Erasmus hinted at another announcement for their upcoming tour to New Zealand in September, where they will face their arch-rivals before taking on Argentina later that month in Durban and London.
๐ง๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐ณ-๐ ๐ฎ๐ป ๐ฆ๐พ๐๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ง๐ฒ๐๐ ๐ ๐ฎ๐๐ฐ๐ต๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ด๐ฎ๐ถ๐ป๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐ฎ ๐ถ๐ป ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐๐๐น๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐ด๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฅ๐๐ด๐ฏ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐บ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ต๐ถ๐ฝ:
Forwards: Lood de Jager (Wild Knights), Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz), Jean-Luc du Preez (Bordeaux Begles), Eben Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Vincent Koch (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Siya Kolisi (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Wilco Louw (Vodacom Bulls), Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears), Bongi Mbonambi (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Franco Mostert (Honda Heat), Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Ruan Nortje (Vodacom Bulls), Asenathi Ntlabakanye (Lions), Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs), RG Snyman (Leinster), Marnus van der Merwe (Scarlets), Marco van Staden (Vodacom Bulls), Boan Venter (Edinburgh), Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Vodacom Bulls), Cobus Wiese (Vodacom Bulls).
Backs: Kurt-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls), Damian de Allende (Wild Knights), Andre Esterhuizen (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Aphelele Fassi (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (DHL Stormers), Ethan Hooker (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles), Cheslin Kolbe (Tokyo Sungoliath), Willie le Roux (Vodacom Bulls), Manie Libbok (DHL Stormers), Canan Moodie (Vodacom Bulls), Handre Pollard (Vodacom Bulls), Cobus Reinach (DHL Stormers), Edwill van der Merwe (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Morne van den Berg (Lions), Grant Williams (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers).