Erasmus rests seven frontline players for Argentina tour

The world champions will face Los Pumas at Estadio Unico Madre Ciudades in Santiago on Saturday, 21 September, in their penultimate game of the tournament.

Erasmus opted to rest seven players who have had a heavy workload in the last few months with an eye on the final round of the competition in Nelspruit a week later. 

Grobbelaar is back in the squad after participating in the Australian leg of the tournament, where the Boks collected a full house of points, and will cover hooker along with Malcolm Marx and Jan-Hendrik Wessels, who can also play prop.

The seven players who will not travel to Argentina are hooker Bongi Mbonambi, prop Frans Malherbe, loose forward Pieter-Steph du Toit, flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, centre Damian de Allende, wing Cheslin Kolbe, and fullback Willie le Roux.

All of them will be placed on a specialised training programme to keep them sharp with an eye on rejoining the group in Mpumalanga upon their return from Argentina.

The Springboks currently lead the Castle Lager Rugby Championship standings with 18 points with four victories in as many games, while Argentina are on 10 points, followed by New Zealand (seven) and Australia (four). 

This means South Africa only need three more log points from their two remaining matches to guarantee their first title since 2019.

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“We have been open about our policy to try to give as many players in our wider squad as possible a chance to play against the top teams in the world,” said Erasmus.

“We believe playing against Argentina in Santiago, where we are expecting a massive encounter in front of a hostile crowd, will serve as a great test for this group of players.

“The players we decided to rest have really done their bit this season, and their bodies deserve a break, so we thought the best for them would be to enjoy a break and spend time with their families before joining us in Nelspruit.

“All of the players in the 28-man squad have been in the set-up this year and have proved their worth, so we are delighted to give them an opportunity to face Argentina on their home ground.

Erasmus named only two specialist hookers in the squad in Grobbelaar and Marx, while Am and Kriel are the only two specialist centres, but he said while Wessels and Marco van Staden could provide cover at hooker, Canan Moodie, who has played in the midfield for the Boks, could provide cover at centre, wing, and fullback.

“This is a short tour, and we are confident that we have sufficient cover in all the positions within this group,” said Erasmus.

“Some players, such as Johan Grobbelaar, Manie Libbok, Jaden Hendrikse, and Canan Moodie – to name a few – will benefit immensely from more game time at this level, while other players, such as Aphelele Fassi and Ben-Jason Dixon for example grabbed their chances with both hands this season and we are excited to see them back in action.”