There was some light at the end of the tunnel when Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber named his 33-man squad for next month’s Rugby World Cup in France and that is the return to fitness of captain Siya Kolisi.
South Africans were rocked on Tuesday when news broke that vice captain and flyhalf Handre Pollard (calf), fellow backline leader and outside centre Lukhanyo Am (knee) and influential lock Lood de Jager (chest) have all been left out of the touring party.
Instead, the trio will join Jean-Luc du Preez (utility forward), Thomas du Toit (prop), Joseph Dweba (hooker), Herschel Jantjies (scrumhalf), Evan Roos (No 8) and Gerhard Steenekamp (prop) on standby for the tournament.
Siya Kolisi: “It’s not pressure, it’s a privilege” - more here: https://t.co/ApEYRD7GeU 🇿![CDATA[]]>🇦 #StrongerTogether pic.twitter.com/EZZy2YSEWa
— Springboks (@Springboks) August 9, 2023
Those exclusions overshadowed the return of Kolisi, who according to a press statement released by the Bok camp “is expected to be back in action against Wales”.
That means following months of rehabilitation after knee surgery, Kolisi will be back in the Boks’ next game when they face the Dragons in Wales next week.
Of his squad selection, Nienaber says: “This was one of the hardest selections we have ever had to make.
Here it is, the #Springboks squad for #RWC2023 🏉![CDATA[]]>🇿![CDATA[]]>🇦
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Full announcement: https://t.co/f7Ns708JcO #StrongerTogether
“Any of the 42-man training squad would do a great job but injuries have played a part in the final selection and time unfortunately ran out for some real champions.
“However, we said from the outset that we wanted to name the best 33 players for the World Cup, and after giving 38 players a run in the last four Tests we are pleased with the make-up of the group, and we know we have proper depth in each position.
“We’ve picked a squad with a bunch of the players who can also cover alternative positions, which we’ll need in a very tough World Cup.”
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He adds: “We still have two warm-up games [against Wales and then New Zealand at Twickenham] left and a road to travel to build player combinations and fine tune the areas of our game that we feel we need to improve on, so we are by no means the final product at this stage.”
BOK WORLD CUP SQUAD
Props: Steven Kitshoff, Vincent Koch, Frans Malherbe, Ox Nche and Trevor Nyakane.
Hookers: Bongi Mbonambi and Malcolm Marx.
Locks: Eben Etzebeth, Jean Kleyn, Marvin Orie and RG Snyman.
Loose-forwards: Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi (captain), Kwagga Smith, Marco van Staden, Duane Vermeulen, Jasper Wiese.
Utility forwards: Deon Fourie and Franco Mostert.
Scrumhalves: Faf de Klerk, Jaden Hendrikse, Cobus Reinach and Grant Williams.
Flyhalves: Manie Libbok and Damian Willemse.
Centres: Damian de Allende, Andre Esterhuizen and Jesse Kriel.
Outside backs: Kurt-Lee Arendse, Cheslin Kolbe, Willie le Roux, Makazole Mapimpi and Canan Moodie.