Rassie confirms: Springbok squad to be cut in half!
Rassie Erasmus has revealed his plan to split the current Springbok squad in two this week ahead of their tour to Argentina.
The Springbok camp is set for a major shake-up later this week with Rassie Erasmus set to divide his playing personal into two groups under a split-squad system.
The Springboks maintained their perfect record in the Rugby Championship with a hard-fought 18-12 victory over the All Blacks to make it four wins from four Tests so far in this campaign.
The result puts them on the cusp of Rugby Championship glory, with only Argentina still in with a mathematic shot at clinching the title, while the All Blacks and Wallabies have been eliminated from contention.
And because the Springboks (18 log points) and Argentina (10) will go up against each other in the remaining two rounds of the tournament, South Africa need just three log points to secure their first title since 2019.
Argentina would need to collect maximum match points via two bonus-points and in the process stop South Africa from getting at least two of their own to snatch the Rugby Championship crown.
Speaking after the win in Cape Town, Erasmus explained how the Boks will handle the final leg of the Rugby Championship.
The competition will have a bye this week with action resuming the following week, when the Springboks will play Los Pumas in Argentina before returning home for the last game against the same opposition in Mbombela.
SPRINGBOK SPLIT-SYSTEM REVEALED AND EXPLAINED
Speaking at the post-match press conference after the All Blacks game in Cape Town, Erasmus revealed that the long and arduous trip Argentina will be used to give more game time to the fringe players in and out the squad, while affording a much-needed rest period for several of the first-choice squad members.
“The guys who are playing against Argentina already know. We’ve already announced that internally,” Erasmus explained. “They’ve been practicing together already.
“We’ve got three days off before we reassemble in Stellenbosch on Wednesday night, and we prepare and we’ll send one group over to Argentina and keep one group back here for the home leg,” the Springbok coach concluded.
WHO GOES AND WHO STAYS?
Rassie Erasmus is likely to take the majority of the younger generation Springboks who are coming through the ranks now to Argentina, while the more established players who’ve played in almost every Test from the World Cup through to the mid-year fixtures and the Rugby Championship will be given a well-deserved rest.
It’s likely that rookies Salmaan Moerat, Jan-Hendrik Wessels Gerhard Steenekamp and Elright Louw will all be on the flight to Santiago, along with senior guys like Kurt-Lee Arendse, Marco van Staden, Steven Kitshoff, Makazole Mapimpi, Manie Libbok and Thomas du Toit, who’ve been in and out of the match 23 and the wider squad.
Among those set to be left behind are Siya Kolisi, who’ll undergo corrective facial surgery, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Damian de Allende, Bongi Mbonambi and Eben Etzebeth.