Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus named his 28-man squad for the one-test tour to Argentina where they will take on Los Pumas in Santiago on September 21, resting seven players.
Prop Vincent Koch and loose forward Kwagga Smith are not among the rested players, and will instead be part of the squad that heads to Santiago for the clash at the Estadio Unico Madre Ciudades.
Erasmus recalled hooker Johan Grobbelaar for the Argentina trip, making him one of three hookers in the squad alongside Malcolm Marx and Jan-Hendrik Wessels, who can also play prop.
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The seven players who will not travel to Argentina are Bongi Mbonambi (hooker), Frans Malherbe (prop), Pieter-Steph du Toit (loose forward), Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (fly half), Damian de Allende (centre), Cheslin Kolbe (wing), and Willie le Roux (fullback).
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. This will be ahead of the final Castle Lager Rugby Championship test against Argentina at Mbombela Stadium.
The Boks are currently top of the table in the championship on 18 points with four victories from four matches. Argentina are on 10 points, with New Zealand (seven) and Australia (four) trailing behind. This means that should the Springboks beat Los Pumas in Santiago they will be crowned this year’s Rugby Championship victors.
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.
Should they not then the test in Mbombela will be the series decider between the South Africans and the Argentinians.
“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.
“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.
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The squad for the Argentina tour is as follows:
• Props: Thomas du Toit, Vincent Koch, Ox Nche, Gerhard Steenekamp.
• Hookers: Johan Grobbelaar, Malcolm Marx.
• Locks: Eben Etzebeth, Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg, Salmaan Moerat, Ruan Nortjé.
• Loose forwards: Ben-Jason Dixon, Siya Kolisi, Elrigh Louw, Kwagga Smith, Marco van Staden, Jasper Wiese.
• Utility forward: Jan-Hendrik Wessels.
• Scrum halves: Jaden Hendrikse, Cobus Reinach, Grant Williams.
• Fly halves: Manie Libbok and Handré Pollard.
• Centres: Lukhanyo Am and Jesse Kriel.
• Outside backs: Kurt-Lee Arendse, Aphelele Fassi, Makazole Mapimpi.
• Utility back: Canan Moodie.
