Last chance saloon for World Cup hopefuls when Boks go to Argentina

Following this weekend’s final Rugby Championship match against Los Pumas at Ellis Park, the Springboks will have one more game, their first warm-up against the same opponents in Buenos Aires next weekend, before coach Jacques Nienaber names his 33-man World Cup squad.

A slimmed down group will head to Argentina for the match, which means that only a few players will be getting a final chance to make a late play for selection to the World Cup squad.

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Nienaber admitted earlier this week that they will only take as many players that are needed for the quick trip to South America and back.

“We definitely won’t take all of our squad for next week’s game over there. We will fly there, have to get over the jetlag, spend two or three days training, play a Test match and fly back,” explained Nienaber.

“I think we will go with a squad of about 26 players. The 23 players that will play in the match and then we will need to take an extra prop and hooker because if someone gets injured or ill you can’t play the Test match without them. And then we will probably take an extra back.

“But I don’t want to limit it to 26. There might be injury concerns (after this weekend’s match), so we might take 27 or 28 (players). But it won’t be 35 guys going (the size of the squad that travelled to New Zealand earlier in the Rugby Champs). So that’s the plan for going to Argentina.”

Edge of selection

A number of players who are on the edge of selection to the World Cup squad would need to go to Argentina and play in that match if they are to make the final cut.

Lock Jean Kleyn, centre Andre Esterhuizen and hooker Joseph Dweba will be some of the players desperate to make that traveling squad to push their cases for selection.

A question mark is also hanging over the head of scrumhalf Jaden Hendrikse, who due to injury and a family bereavement, has yet to play a game for the Boks this season.

Other players who will be hoping for more game time include wings Canan Moodie and Makazole Mapimpi, utility forwards Deon Fourie and Franco Mostert, eighthman Jasper Wiese and lock Lood de Jager.

“Hopefully we can build good momentum in this (final Rugby Championship) Test match and it would be nice to give guys who haven’t had a lot of game time or haven’t had a game yet a go against Argentina in Argentina, which will be a very tough game as well,” said Nienaber.