Erasmus names strong travelling squad for Argentina Test

Springbok captain Siya Kolisi, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Lood de Jager, Eben Etzebeth, and Morne van den Berg will make a welcome return from injury when national coach Rassie Erasmus and his charges travel to Argentina on Saturday for their one-off Test against Los Pumas in Buenos Aires on Saturday, 8 August.

The coach named a 26-man squad for the tour, which features several players returning from injury and others who have had a lighter workload over the past few weeks. The squad will travel to South America in two groups on Saturday.

Several players, who have been involved in the team’s opening four matches of the season, such as Cheslin Kolbe, Damian Willemse, Jesse Kriel, and Ruan Nortje, among others, will reassemble at the team’s training base in Johannesburg on Sunday to begin their preparations for the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry (RGR) Tour against New Zealand.

“We tried to get the balance right between giving some guys who are returning from injury and who have not had too much game time in our last four matches a valuable run against Argentina, while at the same time managing the players who have played a lot of rugby this year,” said Erasmus. “The guys who have recovered from their injuries have been training hard this week and are ready to go, so it will be great for them to get a tough Test match under the belt before we face New Zealand.

“Several players, meanwhile, have been performing for us week in and week out, so it was important that we manage their workload, while players such as Ox (Nche) and Franco (Mostert) are still on the road to recovery, so next week’s training camp will be useful for them to continue to put in the hard yards and for the injured players to continue their rehabilitation.”

Erasmus added: “Argentina are a quality outfit and we know we will be in for a massive challenge in Buenos Aires, so we are preparing for a physical and gruelling battle over there. 

“They are a well-coached team, who have tested us in the last few years, while they have also been competitive in the Nations Championship, so it will be a good test for us as a team.”

Commenting on the training camp this past week, which wrapped up on Thursday afternoon, Erasmus said: “We had a series of productive sessions throughout the week, and all the players know what we expect of them, so everyone understands the importance of building on our season.”

The match kicks off at 21h00 on Saturday, 8 August, and will be broadcast live on SuperSport.

Springbok travelling squad to Argentina (in alphabetical order):

Forwards: Lood de Jager, Ben-Jason Dixon, Thomas du Toit, Eben Etzebeth, Johan Grobbelaar, Cameron Hanekom, Siya Kolisi, Elrigh Louw, Wilco Louw, Zachary Porthen, Gerhard Steenekamp, Marco van Staden, Boan Venter, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Cobus Wiese.

Backs: Andre Esterhuizen, Aphelele Fassi, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Ethan Hooker, Quan Horn, Herchel Jantjies, Canan Moodie, Handre Pollard, Cobus Reinach, Morne van den Berg, Edwill van der Merwe.