Injuries give the Bulls captain his second chance with the Boks

Rassie Erasmus has decided to select the Bulls’ popular and hard-working captain, Ruan Nortjé, as part of his group that will soon leave for Australia for the first Rugby Championship test on August 10 in Brisbane.

Nortjé, who played his only test so far on 9 July 2022 against Wales, will therefore get another chance as part of the larger Springbok group, due to the injuries of Franco Mostert, Lood de Jager and Jean Kleyn.

Erasmus named a strong 33-man squad led by Siya Kolisi for the Castle Lager Rugby Championship, which kicks off with the test match in Brisbane.

Twenty-two of the 33 players are Rugby World Cup-winners, while five 2024 debutants are included in the squad in Jan-Hendrik Wessels (utility forward), Johan Grobbelaar (hooker), Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (utility back), Ben-Jason Dixon (utility forward) and Morne van den Berg (scrumhalf). The only newcomer to the group is Nortjé.

Erasmus said the injury to Franco Mostert opened the door for Ruan Nortje to make his comeback to the national team, and he brings a different type of experience as the captain of the Bulls.

Among the players not considered for selection due to injury or rehab were Jean Kleyn, Lood de Jager and Franco Mostert (all locks), Steven Kitshoff (prop), Faf de Klerk, Jaden Hendrikse, Herschel Jantjies (scrumhalves), Canan Moodie, (centre), Edwill van der Merwe (wing) and Damian Willemse (utility back). Jasper Wiese (No 8) is suspended, and Andre Esterhuizen (centre) awaits a disciplinary hearing after being sent off in the 64-21 win over Portugal on Saturday.

“This is a quality group of players, which includes a mixture of youth and experience, and we believe this is the best group of players we could select for this tough assignment in the Castle Lager Rugby Championship,” said Erasmus.

The Springboks will face Australia in Brisbane and Perth on 10 and 17 August respectively, before returning to South Africa to play back-to-back matches against New Zealand on Saturday, 31 August in Johannesburg, and 7 September in Cape Town. They will then take a short trip to Argentina to face Los Pumas in Santiago on Saturday, 21 September, before wrapping up the tournament in Nelspruit against Argentina on Saturday, 28 September.

The team will then travel to the UK for their traditional northern hemisphere tour in November where they will line up against Scotland (10 November), England (16 November) and Wales in Cardiff (23 November).

The Castle Lager Rugby Championship squad will assemble in Johannesburg on Sunday for a short preparation camp before departing for Australia on Wednesday 31 July.

 

Springbok squad for the Castle Lager Rugby Championship (in alphabetical order):

Forwards: Ben-Jason Dixon (Stormers), Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz), Thomas du Toit (Bath), Eben Etzebeth (Sharks), Johan Grobbelaar (Bulls), Vincent Koch (Sharks), Siya Kolisi (captain – Racing 92), Elrigh Louw (Bulls), Frans Malherbe (Stormers), Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears), Bongi Mbonambi (Sharks), Salmaan Moerat (Stormers), Ox Nche (Sharks), Ruan Nortje (Bulls), Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs), RG Snyman (Leinster), Gerhard Steenekamp (Bulls), Marco van Staden (Bulls), Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Bulls).

Backs: Lukhanyo Am (Sharks), Kurt-Lee Arendse (Bulls), Damian de Allende (Wild Knights), Aphelele Fassi (Sharks), Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (Stormers), Cheslin Kolbe (Suntory Sungoliath), Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles), Willie le Roux (Bulls), Makazole Mapimpi (Sharks), Manie Libbok (Stormers), Handre Pollard (Leicester Tigers), Cobus Reinach (Montpellier), Morne van den Berg (Lions), Grant Williams (Sharks).

 

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