Faf de Klerk has been ruled out of South Africa’s two opening Rugby Championship games against Australia and this could possibly force a tweak to coach Rassie Erasmus’s game plan.
Erasmus named a 33-man Bok squad on Tuesday that will travel to Australia on 31 July to face the Wallabies in two Rugby Championship Tests on 10 August in Brisbane and 17 August in Perth.
De Klerk misses the tour because of injury, with rookie scrumhalf Morne van den Berg taking his place alongside Cobus Reinach and Grant Williams.
And while Williams and Reinach are in the binnebaan to wear the No.9 jumper, De Klerk’s absence will be felt when it comes to the Bok game plan of pressurising teams with pin-point box kicks for their pacey wingers Cheslin Kolbe and Kurt-Lee Arendse and groot forwards Eben Etzebeth and Pieter-Steph du Toit as back-ups to chase.
Should Erasmus, however, choose to persist with this plan, Reinach will be the early favourite to wear the No.9 jersey.
But Erasmus believes the squad he has picked is good enough to klap the Aussies, and says: “This is a quality group of players, which includes a mixture of youth and experience, and we believe this is the best group of players we could select for this tough assignment…”
Meanwhile, other Bok dik nekke that will miss the Aussie tour because of injury are locks Franco Mostert, Jean Kleyn and Lood de Jager, prop Steven Kitshoff, scrumhalves Jaden Hendrikse and Herschel Jantjies, centre/wing Canan Moodie and utility back Damian Willemse.
No.8 Jasper Wiese bly ook by die huis because he’s still serving out a suspension for foul play, while Andre Esterhuizen (centre) gets grounded to attend his disciplinary hearing for a high tackle red card in SA’s 64-21 win against Portugal.
Stormers No.8 Evan Roos got snubbed while his Cape Town teammate Ben-Jason Dixon cracks the nod. Bulls lock Ruan Nortje got called up to replace Mostert.
Action Man💪
— Springboks (@Springboks) July 22, 2024
Ben-Jason Dixon was in sensational form on Saturday 🙌🙌#ForeverGreenForeverGold #Springboks pic.twitter.com/21SMVeQoWQ
SPRINGBOKS SQUAD
Forwards: Ben-Jason Dixon, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Thomas du Toit, Eben Etzebeth, Johan Grobbelaar, Vincent Koch, Siya Kolisi (captain), Elrigh Louw, Frans Malherbe, Malcolm Marx, Bongi Mbonambi, Salmaan Moerat, Ox Nche, Ruan Nortje, Kwagga Smith, RG Snyman, Gerhard Steenekamp, Marco van Staden, Jan-Hendrik Wessels.
Backs: Lukhanyo Am, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Damian de Allende, Aphelele Fassi, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Cheslin Kolbe, Jesse Kriel, Willie le Roux, Makazole Mapimpi, Manie Libbok, Handre Pollard, Cobus Reinach, Morne van den Berg, Grant Williams.
𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚: Rassie Erasmus has named the Springbok squad for the Castle Lager Rugby Championship 🇿🇦🚨 pic.twitter.com/plrdf7Rymv