Coach Rassie Erasmus says experienced campaigners such as Faf de Klerk and Vincent Koch remain in Springbok contention.
The duo were excluded from the 46-man squad for the Nations Championship despite having been part of the recent two-week Bok training camp and will instead turn out for the Barbarians against Wales at Twickenham on Saturday.
De Klerk featured off the bench against the Baa-Baas at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium but was not selected for the Nations Championship squad, with Erasmus opting for Cobus Reinach, Grant Williams, Embrose Papier and Herschel Jantjies as his four scrumhalves.
The Bok open their campaign against England at Ellis Park next Saturday.
“I think there’s a much longer list than just Faf and Vincent,” Erasmus said when asked about their absence on Tuesday. “You can add Bongi [Mbonambi], Jaden [Hendrikse], Jordan [Hendrikse], Ethan [Hooker], Sebastian [de Klerk], Sacha [Feinberg-Mngomezulu], Trevor [Nyakane] and others. Every player’s situation is different.”
The Bok coach explained that scrumhalf remains one of the key positions being carefully managed.
“We always like to have four nines in our squad. We feel more comfortable with that,” he said.
“Cobus is back and he’s an experienced guy at 35. We generally like one of our scrumhalves to be a senior player who can guide the younger guys.
“We know what Faf can do. We’ve worked with him, we’ve trained with him and we know his value.
“We’ve always rated Herschel Jantjies and now we want to have a proper look at him.”
Erasmus suggested the squad could look different after the July Tests.
“There are another 15 to 17 players who are injured, being rested or who may be better suited to specific matches later in the campaign.”
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He also revealed that the Bok team for the England match has already been finalised.
“We have plans for the second game [against Scotland], the third game [against Wales] and the team that will play England,” he said. “Internally, those plans are already in place.”
Photo: Anton Geyser/Gallo Images
The post Rassie: Door not closed on Bok veterans appeared first on SA Rugby magazine.
Coach Rassie Erasmus says experienced campaigners such as Faf de Klerk and Vincent Koch remain in Springbok contention.
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