Unlucky Bok could still get lucky, says Rassie

National director of rugby Rassie Erasmus has hinted that perhaps there shouldn’t be too much read into the omission of the experienced Marcell Coetzee from the Springbok group of 46 that was announced on Saturday for the forthcoming series against the British and Irish Lions.

Coetzee could be ranked as one of the unluckiest Springboks of recent times as he is a quality player but has missed out on two successive Rugby World Cups, one because of a quite controversial omission from the playing group and the second time because of injury. Most critics expected him to be able to make up for those disappointments by playing in this iconic series against the Lions, but he was a surprising omission when the names of the players in the squad were read out by SA Rugby president Mark Alexander live on Supersport on Saturday night.

“Marcell is a good player and we all know what he can do but he has just come back from a long injury,” said Erasmus when discussing what for many would be the most controversial selection or non-selection.

“It is a long season and we can see him playing in the next few games for the Bulls. Just because Marcell is not in the squad does not mean he is not in the frame. If he plays well for the Bulls and they could have two games to go now if they play in the Rainbow Cup final in Italy, then there is no reason we can’t bring him into the squad.

“Duane (Vermeulen) might be injured, anything can happen, and you must remember that we are not playing just the Lions series. After this we have a Rugby Championship,” added the man who coached the Boks to World Cup glory in 2019.

The subject of Vermeulen is one that is going to come under intense focus in the coming days. He injured his ankle in the Bulls’ penultimate Rainbow Cup SA game against the Stormers in Pretoria on Friday and Erasmus continued on the theme set by Bulls coach Jake White after that game. In other words, it doesn’t look good.

“Duane is a big worry for us. He is going to Cape Town on Monday for scans. We will keep the squad the same until the medical reports once the players have gathered, but it can change. The only guy who is doubtful after this weekend’s games is Duane. Herschel Jantjies came off with an illness in the Pretoria game but he will be fine.”

Erasmus mentioned Sharks flyhalf Curwin Bosch and Bulls loosehead prop Lizo Gcqoboko as other players who were close to selection and missed out. And Cornal Hendriks, the Bulls centre who has been so good there since being moved from the wings, could be added to the group once a few issues around his medical insurance are sorted out.

“We are playing this series in South Africa so if we need someone like Curwin or we need Lizo we can easily call them in,” said Erasmus.

“We are not looking just at the Lions series, there is also the Championship and a lot to come after that this year. This is just the side we thought we would start with. Cornal has had an issue around him, but we are sorting those medical issues out. All these guys are in the mix still, just because they are not in the squad doesn’t mean they are out of it.”

What Erasmus is confident about though is that the squad might just be better equipped than the one that won South Africa the World Cup in Japan 20 months ago.

“I think this squad is really balanced, it is maybe better balanced than the one that went to the World Cup,” he said.

Bok coach Jacques Nienaber explained that while the Springboks will go into camp from Sunday, the players would arrive in dribs and drabs according to when their club or franchise commitments come to an end. The camp that gathers in Bloemfontein on Sunday for the start of a three week conditioning phase will be made up of just eight players, with the Japanese contingent and those players not playing franchise rugby being the main attendees.

“We are expecting to have a big enough squad to have two teams available to us in two weeks to three weeks time,” said Nienaber.

“We then move to Johannesburg for the start of the series against Georgia. We will keep the larger squad together until the South Africa A game against the Lions and then we will whittle it down to maybe 32 or 36 players.”