With a huge Los Pumas Test next month, Springbok boss Rassie Erasmus has revealed who will travel to Argentina before tackling the All Blacks in the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series.
Erasmus on Monday named four debutants to start in a Bok lineup, led by Pieter-Steph du Toit, for Saturday’s Nations Championship clash with Wales at Kings Park.
Along with Eben Etzebeth, Siya Kolisi remains absent, and is yet to feature since the non-cap season opener against the Barbarians on 20 June.
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“We were hoping to play guys like Siya in this game, but all of them got a niggle,” Erasmus said. “I’ve been saying every week that they’re close, but common sense says … we have Argentina away, and all those guys will be ready for that game.”
The Boks face Argentina in Buenos Aires on 8 August before the New Zealand series kicks off from 22 August, preceded by club matches between the All Blacks and the Stormers (7 August), Sharks (11 August) and Vodacom Bulls (15 August).
“Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry is something that we’re all excited about,” Erasmus said. “Next week, the boys are off, and then we’re going to send 26, 27 guys over to Argentina to prepare and then keep some guys back to prepare for the Greatest Rivalry.
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“The important thing is we don’t want to send players to Argentina while New Zealand is busy playing against our franchises, and we have to fly back and they’re used to South African weather and the stadiums, and then we have to play them in the first Test.
“We will really focus on that Argentina game and getting Eben, Siya, Lood de Jager and ‘Sous’ [Franco Mostert], those guys to go there to Argentina and pick a proper team.
“But we will leave 15, 16 or 17 guys, depending on who’s injured, back to start preparing for New Zealand.”
Erasmus added that individual availability, including the likes of Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, would be assessed with input from the clubs.
“We had a meeting with our franchises early in the year, and we would love to release some of those players,” he said.
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“Like Sacha, if he needs a game, yes, we might release him. It won’t be a blanket thing, it will be case by case.”
On Du Toit’s workload, with the two-time World Cup winner set to play his fourth game in a row for the Boks this week, Erasmus added: “If you look at Pieter-Steph’s last year, he hasn’t played a lot.
“It’s a good thing; you don’t want to be underdone when you go up against New Zealand.
“He’ll probably be one of the guys who will not go to Argentina and they will get two weeks rest.”
Photo: Steve Haag/Getty Images
The post Rassie on why PSDT, not Siya is playing appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
With a huge Los Pumas Test next month, Springbok boss Rassie Erasmus has revealed who will travel to Argentina before tackling the All Blacks in the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series.
The post Rassie on why PSDT, not Siya is playing appeared first on SA Rugby magazine. Read More
