All eyes will be on Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus this week as he looks to take a “step up” and select a team capable of defending the Castle Lager Rugby Championship title the team won last season.
Erasmus will name a 36-man squad this week that will do duty in three weeks time for the opening two matches against the Wallabies, who will be fresh from their British and Irish Lions series.
And then thereafter the crucial team will be named for the two tests in New Zealand against the All Blacks - starting with possibly the biggest test of the year at Eden Park, a venue where the All Blacks have been unbeaten since 1994.
But while a lot of the focus has been on the mix-and-match teams, the debutants and youngsters who have gotten their chance over the past month of games, there will be a lot more familiar look to the side that will be chosen to face the Wallabies.
Some senior players may well be rested - Erasmus said as much this last week - but with 48 players currently in the squad, there will be more than enough chance to select a side that has a wealth of experience with a smattering of younger talent included.
And above those 48, there are a number of more experienced players still returning from injury - although Erasmus hasn’t indicated which of them will be back for Australia.
A few weeks back the Bok coach did indicate that players such as midfielder Lukhanyo Am, props Gerhard Steenekamp and Ntuthuko Mnchunu will return for the Rugby Championship, so it won’t be a surprise to see their names among those for the Aussie games.
There will also be a bit more clarity on the knee injury to Jean Kleyn, sustained in the Barbarian game. At the time Erasmus said it looked like it was six weeks on the sidelines, but Kleyn would continue his rehab with his club Munster.
Ditto for Juarno Augustus, who had an injury and has been with his new club Ulster to rehab. An update on his progress, as well as that of Stormers flanker Ben-Jason Dixon is also expected, and if recovered, could find themselves in the squad.
One player not currently with the group that will definitely be included is Jean-Luc du Preez, who left the camp for the birth of his child and was also ruled out with the effects of concussion. Erasmus has indicated he will be back for the Australian tests as part of the group.
With those in mind, the rest of the group will be selected purposely for those who need a bit of game time to get them up to speed and those rested will be players who have done a lot of work over the past month who will be put on a specific programme to be ready for the Auckland game.
In the past Erasmus has experimented with younger players against Australia and a number of them are likely to win caps again - including the likes of Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and others.
GOOD IMPRESSIONS
Over the past month some players have made good impressions, giving Erasmus some leeway in his selections. Marco van Staden was the team’s internal man of the match after the second test against Italy, Canan Moodie has come through strong in the midfield, while Ruan Nortje was an out and out man of the match against Georgia.
Add to that the versatility of Andre Esterhuizen in covering multiple positions on the field, the return from injury of the likes of Lood de Jager and Faf de Klerk and the impressive try-scoring abilities of Edwill van der Merwe and the biggest decision for Erasmus will be who to leave out, not who to include.
“We’ll name 36 guys on Tuesday for the Australia series, and within that squad there’ll be one or two guys that we experiment with, but the bulk of that squad will be experienced players who are suited to the way we want to play,” Erasmus said after the Georgia victory.
“The nice thing is that we’ve got a group of 48 players or so that we’ve used this year, and there are quite a few that we’d also like to give opportunities to, like Jaden (Hendrikse), Jordan (Hendrikse), Quan Horn, and Renzo (du Plessis).
“But this was a series where we wanted to experiment a little bit so getting the scorelines we did is pretty satisfying. But the Rugby Championship will definitely be a step up.”
Cobus Wiese’s versatility in the absence of his brother Jasper has been given a thumbs up by Erasmus, and it will be interesting to see - given those returning like Du Preez and perhaps Dixon whether Evan Roos stays with the squad.
“We learned a lot from Cobus today. And I think he learned a lot from test match rugby. He’s definitely not Jasper yet. I think there are definitely areas where a guy like Evan still tops him. But it’s his first test match that he starts at eight and I thought he was pretty solid.”
All will be revealed on Tuesday when the squad is announced.