Erasmus sticks with tried and tested players for N

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus stuck to the players who did duty for the team in their opening two Castle Lager Rugby Championship matches against Australia for their tour to New Zealand, where they will play back-to-back Tests against the All Blacks next month.

A total of 36 of the 38 players in last week’s squad retained their places in the group for the second leg of their campaign.

The Boks will battle it out with the All Blacks at Eden Park in Auckland on Saturday, 6 September, and the Sky Stadium in Wellington a week later on 13 September in matches that will be crucial as the team seeks to defend the Castle Lager Rugby Championship title they won for the first time since 2019 last season.

With wings Kurt-Lee Arendse and Edwill van der Merwe injured, Makazole Mapimpi, who joined the team in Cape Town last week, will make the trip down under, while the only forward from the squad that faced Australia to miss out on selection was utility forward Cobus Wiese, who has been placed on standby.

The squad contains 20 forwards and 16 backs. No 8 Jasper Wiese, however, is still currently serving a suspension and will only be eligible for selection for the second encounter in Wellington.

“This group of players have been working hard together since our first training camp in June, and most of them have been playing together for years, while the newer players in the squad showed in the Castle Lager Incoming Series and in the last two matches against Australia that they are ready for this challenge,” said Erasmus.

“Siya (Kolisi, Springbok captain), Pieter-Steph (du Toit), Willie (le Roux), and Jan-Hendrik (Wessels) have been medically cleared from their niggles, while all the players who faced Australia in Cape Town have received a clean bill of health and will be ready to face the All Blacks.”

Erasmus expected a tremendous test against the All Blacks in Auckland and Wellington, but he was excited about the challenge ahead.

“The Castle Lager Rugby Championship is still wide open with all four teams having won a match in the first two rounds, so this tour is going to be vital for us, and we’ll certainly take confidence from the win against Australia last week when we board the plane,” said Erasmus.

“Facing the All Blacks in New Zealand is a massive challenge, but all the teams in this competition are ranked among the top sides in the world, and each one has the potential to beat one another on the day.

“In the last two months alone, Australia defeated us at Ellis Park and went down narrowly in their British & Irish Lions Series defeat, while Argentina defeated New Zealand last weekend and the British & Irish Lions, so we are not paying much attention to our historic records in New Zealand.

“We learned valuable lessons from our first game against Australia, and we know exactly what we have to do to reach our standards and improve as the competition progresses, and I don’t think we need more motivation than that.”

Erasmus added: “We are under no illusions that both games are going to be massive, and every match against the All Blacks is epic given the rivalry between the teams.

“We won our last four matches against them dating back to 2023, which marked only the the second time in history that we defeated them four times in a row, and there is no doubt that will motivate both teams.

“So, we need to ensure that we build on what we’ve been working on this year in the Castle Lager Incoming Series and Castle Lager Rugby Championship and take another step-up before facing them in two weeks.

“We are travelling to New Zealand tomorrow, which will give us sufficient time to acclimatise to the time zone, so we believe we will be settled and ready for the task ahead by the time we take the field.”

The Springboks play New Zealand on consecutive Saturdays – 6 and 13 September – in Auckland and Wellington, with both Tests kicking off at 09h05 (SA time).

Springbok squad for the Castle Lager Rugby Championship Tests against New Zealand:

Forwards: Lood de Jager (Wild Knights), Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz), Thomas du Toit (Bath), Jean-Luc du Preez (Bordeaux Begles), Eben Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Vincent Koch (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Siya Kolisi (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Wilco Louw (Vodacom Bulls), Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears), Bongi Mbonambi (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Franco Mostert (Honda Heat), Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Ruan Nortje (Vodacom Bulls), Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs), RG Snyman (Leinster), Marnus van der Merwe (Scarlets), Marco van Staden (Vodacom Bulls), Boan Venter (Edinburgh), Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Vodacom Bulls), Jasper Wiese (Urayasu D-Rocks).

Backs: Damian de Allende (Wild Knights), Andre Esterhuizen (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Aphelele Fassi (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (DHL Stormers), Ethan Hooker (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles), Cheslin Kolbe (Tokyo Sungoliath), Willie le Roux (Vodacom Bulls), Manie Libbok (Kintetsu Liners), Makazole Mapimpi (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Canan Moodie (Vodacom Bulls), Handre Pollard (Vodacom Bulls), Cobus Reinach (DHL Stormers), Morne van den Berg (Lions), Grant Williams (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers).