BOK BOSS ERASMUS SAYS DROPPED ROOS IS STILL…

STORMERS yster Evan Roos’ exclusion from the second Springbok alignment camp held in Cape Town last week, does not mean the No.8 will not get to play a Test this year.

So says Bok coach Rassie Erasmus after quite a few eyebrows were raised over Roos’ miskyk as the defending world champions met last Thursday and Friday, to beraam planne for the upcoming Test season.

It is also not the first time the Stormers No.8 has been left out by Erasmus. Last season, ahead of the start of the Rugby Championship, Roos also got dropped from the Bok team after playing in their one-off Test match against Portugal in Bloemfontein.

Later it was revealed Roos was set to go under the knife to fix a niggling shoulder injury with the loose forward even joking of how he got removed from the Boks se WhatsApp group to BoksOffice Podcast hosts Hanyani Shimane and Jean de Villiers.

Taking note of the questions surrounding Roos, who last Friday flew out to Glasgow for the Stormers’ upcoming United Rugby Championship quarter-final against Warriors, Erasmus said of the No.8 and other still being innie mix: “Obviously there is a few guys we did not pick [for this camp], because we know them already and we know they know the way we want to play and what we’re trying to do.

“So there will be guys outside this group who will also play, still in this year... ”

Meanwhile, Erasmus says he is happy with the work that he and his management team got through in the two days they had with players in last Thursday’s in-person session and Friday’s virtual session.

He adds: “It went really well… all the coaches and all the different departments got a chance to share our plan and the way we want to operate.

“It was mostly on-field stuff in this specific camp, where we actually get to the rugby stuff although we know there is still franchise rugby to be played.

“Overall, we are fairly happy with the way this camp went.”