An indication of how well the Springboks are shaping for the forthcoming Rugby Greatest Rivalry series against the All Blacks is the influx of seasoned players who didn’t play at all or played very little during a successful first phase to the 2026 international season.
Coach Rassie Erasmus has called up a squad of 43 players who will gather in Johannesburg on Sunday to begin preparations for the RGR series, but has stressed that the five players he has simultaneously released to play for their franchise teams against the All Blacks remain in the mix for the final squad that will contest that series.
The first test against New Zealand is to be played in Johannesburg (Ellis Park) on 22 August, in other words exactly one month from today. The series then proceeds to Cape Town for the second test, with the South African leg of the series being concluded at the FNB Stadium outside Johannesburg on 5 September. The two teams will then fly to Baltimore, USA for the final game of the rubber.
Before that the Boks will play a warmup test against Argentina in Buenos Aires, and several seasoned players who have been out nursing injuries are expected to be back for that game.
They include the experienced locks Eben Etzebeth and Lood de Jager, neither of whom have worn the green and gold jersey this season, as well as star flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who has been out since sustaining an injury towards the end of the Vodacom URC season.
Skipper Siya Kolisi, who led the team in the opening game of the year against the Barbarians in Port Elizabeth, is another returnee, as is another veteran lock Franco Mostert, who has been listed in the squad as a utility forward for his ability to play both in the second row and blindside flank. Mostert did feature against the Barbarians,
MOYO RETAINED IN SQUAD
Andre Esterhuizen, the hybrid player who was concussed when he came on as a replacement against England and then didn’t feature again in the home leg of the Championship, is also in the group, as is Canan Moodie, who was selected to face Scotland and then dropped out because of injury.
Ethan Hooker, injured against Scotland in Pretoria, has been declared fit to be part of the squad, as has veteran double World Cup winning flyhalf Handre Pollard, who was unavailable for the final test of the home leg against Wales, which was why Vusi Moyo got his first starting opportunity in that game.
It is interesting to note that Moyo has been retained as one of four flyhalves in the group, which is an indication that he did enough both in training and in his two appearances (the Durban test and his cameo against the Barbarians) to satisfy Erasmus.
Players who did not make the cut after the conclusion of the initial phase of the Championship season include Stormers No 8 Evan Roos and his franchise teammates, prop Ntuthuko Mchunu and Andre-Hugo Venter, as well as Bulls scrumhalf Embrose Papier and Sharks wing Jaco Williams. However, all five of those players will be watched closely by Erasmus in their franchise games against the All Blacks. Hence his selections can be regarded as strategic.
JANTJIES EDGES AHEAD OF PAPIER
The return of the hitherto injury Lions scrumhalf Morne van den Berg accounts for the omission from the 43 of Papier, with the Bayonne based former Stormers scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies clearly doing enough in his second half substitution role in the 43-0 win over Wales in Durban at the weekend to convince Erasmus he can reprise the role he played at the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
There are four scrumhalves in the squad but only two hookers in Malcolm Marx and Johan Grobbelaar, with that latter decision being easily explained by the presence of Marco van Staden and Jan-Hendrik Wessels in the group demarcated as utility forwards.
The rest of that group, in addition to those two and the aforementioned Mostert, features Pieter-Steph du Toit, Vincent Tshituka and Cobus Wiese.
The number of players listed as outside or utility backs also explains how there are only three centres named in the group, with Esterhuizen, who we all know can fill a hybrid role of flanker or centre, as the only addition to the regular starting duo of Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel.
Moodie, Hooker and Damian Willemse, who must surely be penned on as the starting fullback, have all played international rugby in the midfield.
ONLY THREE SPECIALIST LOCKS BUT LOTS OF UTILITY BACKUP
It is a similar story at lock, where there are just three players included in the form of Etzebeth, De Jager and Ruan Nortje, with the first two yet to play this season, but the presence of Mostert, Du Toit and Wiese (Cobus that is) considerably increasing Erasmus’ options, as does the presence of Ben-Jason Dixon in the group listed as loose-forwards. Dixon has looked the part of a lock when he has been used there.
The lock to drop out of the group is Ruben van Heerden, but the now Montpellier player is on standby and could well end up being recalled given the injury problems there have been at lock over the past few months.
ERASMUS EXPLAINS HIS SELECTION
“We put a lot of thought into how we will manage the entire group of players to give everyone a chance to stake a claim for places in the squad for the RGR series, and we decided that splitting the squad into two groups will be best for the Springbok team and the players to play their way into the squad,” said Erasmus.
“Some players are returning from injury and need some valuable game time, so depending on how they progress from their injuries during next week’s training camp, we will decide who we will take to Argentina, while the other guys in the 43-man squad will remain behind in Johannesburg with a group of coaches and management to begin preparing for the tests against New Zealand.
“The players released to their franchises, meanwhile, will also have an opportunity to face the All Blacks in their respective midweek games if they are selected, which will be invaluable for them once we decide on the final squad for RGR, so we see this as a win-win situation for the team and players.”
Erasmus added, “We are limited in the number of players we can take to Argentina, so it makes sense to give everyone a fair chance to compete for spots in the RGR squad, and some of the players who will train in Johannesburg will be in the final stages of their recovery from injuries, which will allow them to do so under the supervision of our medical team.
“Then there are other players who have played a lot of rugby this year and for us during the Nations Championship, and need a match off to allow their bodies to recover.”
Springbok squad to gather in Johannesburg on Sunday:
Props: Thomas du Toit (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Wilco Louw (DHL Stormers), Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Zachary Porthen (DHL Stormers), Carlu Sadie (Bordeaux Begles), Gerhard Steenekamp (Vodacom Bulls), Boan Venter (Fidelity Securedrive Lions).
Hookers: Johan Grobbelaar (Vodacom Bulls), Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears).
Locks: Lood de Jager (Wild Knights), Eben Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Ruan Nortje (Kubota Spears).
Loose forwards: Paul de Villiers, Ben-Jason Dixon (both DHL Stormers), Cameron Hanekom (Vodacom Bulls), Siya Kolisi (DHL Stormers), Elrigh Louw (Vodacom Bulls), Jasper Wiese (Urayasu D-Rocks).
Utility forwards: Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz), Franco Mostert (Honda Heat), Vincent Tshituka (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Marco van Staden, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Cobus Wiese (all Vodacom Bulls).
Scrumhalves: Herschel Jantjies (Bayonne), Cobus Reinach (DHL Stormers), Morne van den Berg (Fidelity Securedrive Lions), Grant Williams (Kobe Steelers).
Flyhalves: Manie Libbok (Kintetsu Liners), Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (DHL Stormers), Vusi Moyo (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Handre Pollard (Vodacom Bulls).
Centres: Damian de Allende (Wild Knights), Andre Esterhuizen (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles).
Outside and utility backs: Kurt-Lee Arendse (Mitsubishi Dynaboars), Aphelele Fassi (Toshiba), Ethan Hooker (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Quan Horn (Fidelity Securedrive Lions), Cheslin Kolbe (DHL Stormers), Canan Moodie (Vodacom Bulls), Edwill van der Merwe (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers).
Players released to play for their franchises in RGR:
Forwards: Ntuthuko Mchunu, Evan Roos, Andre-Hugo Venter (all DHL Stormers).
Backs: Jaco Williams (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Embrose Papier (Vodacom Bulls).
Standby: Ruben van Heerden (Montpellier).