The race for places for the November tour with the Springboks takes centre stage from this weekend again as the Vodacom United Rugby Championship doesn’t compete with the national team for eyeballs.
All thoughts will be on who can make the grade for the November internationals against Scotland, England and Wales.
The next test for the Boks - the one that they desperately want to complete successfully - is to complete the November tour unbeaten, so as to call their year a success. Two narrow losses in a tough test year is nothing to be scoffed at, and few would argue that the Boks are the most dangerous side in world rugby at the moment.
But the Bok management already have an idea of what they want for the end-of-year tour, and the conditions may dictate a bit more conservatism in their game plan. Erasmus said some of the players would now go on holiday, some back to their franchises and clubs and others will rest, and the squad resumes training in three weeks again.
“Each player has a different situation,” Erasmus said. “Some players are on leave, some players will play URC, some are playing in France, some are going to Mauritius – four or five guys organised with their franchises to take their rest now.
“Eben is one of them that is going to Mauritius.”
The coaches, however, will be watching the club competitions across the world to decide who needs to make the step up for the three-week tour of Europe.
FOCUS ON URC
“For us, it is to watch the URC,” Erasmus said.
“We watched the Currie Cup to see how players like Quan Horn, who was part of our team, fared in the Currie Cup, just like Morne van den Berg who will play now.
“Thomas du Toit will probably go back to Bath and then we have a tough three-match schedule in which we would like to be unbeaten. It would be a great season if we could only lose two games.
“The players are off for three weeks, not the coaches. They will be with their franchises and after three weeks, the available guys will gather in Cape Town.
“It will include about 10 players playing in England and Japan and as the players get released, we will start preparing the last two weeks before we go overseas.”
Still, the composition of that side is going to be very difficult to manage. The Boks used 35 players in the Castle Lager Rugby Championship, and 49 thus far in the test season. Outside that, there are injured players likely to return and others who are knocking on the door.
Putting 60 odd players into 34 means that for once, SA Rugby could actually benefit from a second SA A tour to give everyone game time. But alas, this won’t happen.
THERE WILL BE THOSE UNLUCKY NOT TO TOUR
The number 34 is what teams have traditionally taken and depending on a number of factors, it could well be 36. Either way, there are players who will believe they deserve to be there who will have to stay at home.
The injured players who may well return include the likes of Faf de Klerk, RG Snyman, Franco Mostert, Edwill van der Merwe, Damian Willemse and Jean Kleyn. The last two returned to action in the last fortnight for their clubs, while it seems that those definitely ruled out for the tour include Steven Kitshoff (neck), Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (knee) and Lood de Jager (shoulder) while Evan Roos is another understood to not have recovered in time with a shoulder injury.
So several questions await for the management team in who they take along on the trip, and for most coaches, this is an enviable position to be in.
Much of the argument will revolve around blooding new talent and getting them in so that they can start amassing test caps ahead of the 2027 World Cup defence, while not surrendering the winning culture the team has set up.
MORE THAN ONE PLAYER VYING FOR A STARTING ROLE
In every position, the Boks have more than one player who can vie for the starting lineup and while there will be bumps along the road, they also have a double World Cup-winning lineup that showed again in Nelspruit just how good they are when given a challenge.
So the choices will be tough.
Take fullback for instance. Aphelele Fassi has been sensational since his second reboot into the Bok camp. He has upped his defence and is the attacking player the Boks want - so much so that social media’s “Church of Fassi” following has had more than enough ammunition to crow about.
But then there is Willemse, who was the incumbent before getting injured, and will no doubt be returned to the squad now that he is playing again. And lest we forget, Willie le Roux is now on 96 caps, and Erasmus has spoken about how he wants to get him to his 100th cap as well. Le Roux’s playmaking abilities are legendary, and will not be discarded easily, especially given his off-field influence on players as well.
WILL MORE YOUNGSTERS BE BLOODED?
Those three players could easily start in all three tests, but what about blooding youngsters. Jordan Hendrikse’s long boot - that won a Currie Cup and slotted two massive penalties in Galway this past weekend is worthy of more game time at test level.
Quan Horn has been producing exceptional performances for the Lions for a while now and made his test debut this year as well.
Versatility may be a bigger drawcard for the Bok management as it gives them more options, but even at wing, where Cheslin Kolbe and Kurt-Lee Arendse have made the positions theirs for now, Canan Moodie and Edwill van der Merwe will be knocking on the door, and let us not forget Makazole Mapimpi either.
The midfield is virtually sewn up by three players with Andre Esterhuizen out on the fringes. But if the Boks want to blood new players, Ethan Hooker and Henco van Wyk fit the bill.
Hendrikse’s name comes up at flyhalf as a possible third option, while Siya Masuka is still banging on the door while the options at scrumhalf seem endless.
Then there is the case of Cameron Hanekom, who was, by all accounts, set to join the Boks until he was injured. Now, with Elrigh Louw and Jasper Wiese putting in strong performances, Kwagga Smith the ultimate bench player and there being no end in sight to Pieter-Steph du Toit, where can he fit in? And who do you leave out given there are a host of loose forwards still in the squad?
Snyman and Kleyn’s return will be a boost for the Boks, as will Franco Mostert, but Salmaan Moerat and Ruan Nortje need more game time to develop and how the Boks handle their locks will be key as well.
The front row is more settled, but the continued development of Jan-Hendrik Wessels as the swinger, as well as Gerhard Steenekamp’s quiet assassin role are key to the continued dominance of the scrum.
Outside this, several players haven’t even been mentioned and can slot in as well.
The riches that Springbok rugby has at the moment is a massive blessing during the transition after the World Cup. But you can’t help but feel for the coaching staff trying to get the blend right for the November tour.