New-look Bok team to face Portugal to come from these 41 players

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has revealed his new-look squad from which he’ll pick his matchday-23 for Saturday’s Test against Portugal in Bloemfontein.

The Boks will go into the match after a narrow 25-24 loss to Ireland in the second Test between the nations in Durban on Saturday. The Boks won the first Test in Pretoria to ensure a 1-1 drawn series.

The Boks will be a much-changed side this weekend for the match against the tier two nation, who are coming off a good win against Namibia on Saturday.

41 players in training on Monday

The 41-man Bok squad named by Erasmus for the match in Bloemfontein includes several World Cup winners from 2023, but also a sprinkling of new talent.

Two players, Franco Mostert (lock) and Edwill van der Merwe (winger), have been ruled out of contention due to injuries, with the extent of their respective injuries set to be confirmed on Monday, while centre Damian de Allende was permitted to exit the camp due to personal reasons.

Capped Springboks Elrigh Louw (loose forward) and Ntuthuko Mchunu (prop) and the uncapped Quan Horn (fullback), Andre-Hugo Venter (hooker) and Ruan Venter (loose forward) – who attended the Bok alignment camps in May – joined the current group of players, including eight of the nine players who were released to their provincial unions last week to participate in the Currie Cup.

‘Expose players’

Erasmus stated on Saturday night that several players would be released on Wednesday once the team had concluded their main on-field preparations for the historic Test against Portugal.

The Springboks arrived in the Free State capital on Sunday afternoon and will begin their on-field preparations for the clash on Monday.

“It was always part of our planning to expose a few players to top class international rugby against Portugal in line with our objective to build squad depth with an eye on the 2027 Rugby World Cup,” said Erasmus.

“Some of the players had a taste of international rugby against Wales at Twickenham, others received an opportunity off the bench against Ireland, and Andre-Hugo Venter toured with us to London for the Wales Test, so we are delighted with the quality of the players coming through the ranks.”

Erasmus will announce his matchday team to face Portugal on Tuesday.

Springbok squad for the match against Portugal:

Props: Ntuthuko Mchunu, Ox Nche, Gerhard Steenekamp, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Frans Malherbe, Vincent Koch, Trevor Nyakane, Thomas du Toit

Hookers: Bongi Mbonambi, Malcolm Marx, Johan Grobbelaar, Andre-Hugo Venter

Locks: Eben Etzebeth, Salmaan Moerat, RG Snyman

Loose forwards: Siya Kolisi, Elrigh Louw, Marco van Staden, Phepsi Buthelezi, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Ben-Jason Dixon, Evan Roos, Ruan Venter, Kwagga Smith, Jasper Wiese

Scrumhalves: Faf de Klerk, Grant Williams, Cobus Reinach, Morne van den Berg

Flyhalves: Handre Pollard, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Manie Libbok

Centres: Lukhanyo Am, Andre Esterhuizen, Jesse Kriel

Outside backs: Kurt-Lee Arendse, Cheslin Kolbe, Willie le Roux, Makazole Mapimpi, Aphelele Fassi, Quan Horn