Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus has confirmed that almost his entire squad is fit and available ahead of next week’s clash with Argentina, with only Ox Nche and Franco Mostert ruled out of the trip to South America.
Speaking to reporters in Johannesburg on Tuesday, Erasmus delivered a largely positive update on the injury front following the conclusion of the Nations Championship’s opening leg, while outlining how key returning stars will be getting some much-needed ahead of the Greatest Rivalry Series against the All Blacks.
“Only Ox and Franco aren’t available for next week’s game against Argentina. Apart from that, everybody is ready,” Erasmus said.
The fixture in South America will serve as an essential proving ground for several senior figures returning from spells on the sidelines, including captain and flank Siya Kolisi, locks Eben Etzebeth and Lood de Jager, and star flyhalf Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
Erasmus basically confirmed that, barring a setback this week, that these players will see action against Los Pumas to get rid of some of the rust. Etzebeth, especially, should be keen to get onto the park in the green and gold, having played just 40 minutes of rugby since the November match against Wales.
“We always knew we were going to play this game, but as it worked out, it’s a great opportunity to give some of the returning players a run” Erasmus explained.
“Siya could have returned a week earlier, but we wanted to make sure that he is fully fit, because a hamstring is a difficult thing. Same with Eben’s concussion, Lood’s injury and Sacha’s return. Sacha came nicely through his first training with us.”
“The game is a really good time for us and it’s a good quality team. It would be good to see who will be ready to play New Zealand in two weeks’ time after that match.”
To manage player load before the blockbuster four-Test series against the All Blacks, Erasmus mentioned that he is likely to give those players who played a lot of minutes in the three Nations Championship matches.
Frontline players who have accumulated heavy minutes in the United Rugby Championship and the opening three Tests against England, Scotland and Wales, such as forward Pieter-Steph du Toit, will remain at home to prepare for the first Test at Ellis Park.
“There are players who we are going to leave at home. We just want to see how we get through this week,” said Erasmus. “We’re taking 26 guys across, but we want to see how the week goes before announcing the squad.
“Guys who played a lot of rugby and guys who aren’t fit yet, won’t go to Argentina. The guys who need game time will go to Argentina.”
While public attention has inevitably drifted toward the upcoming showdown against the All Blacks, Erasmus warned against looking past Los Pumas.
“Our first priority is to beat Argentina. Everybody is asking questions about the All Blacks, but we must beat Argentina next week. Let’s get past that hurdle,” Erasmus insisted.
“We have a few goals for Argentina. Obviously we want to win every Test match we play and we are going to pick a team to try and beat Argentina. We’ve learned our lessons. When you take your foot off the pedal against Argentina, they can punish you.
With a massive international schedule ahead, Erasmus reiterated that physical conditioning and rotation of the squad is going to be important for the squad to hit top gear when it matters most.
“We feel comfortable that over a four-Test match series against New Zealand that the players will peak,” he noted.
“You can’t peak in the first match, because there’s a lot of rugby to be played. I don’t think teams are thinking they are going to beat the other 4-0, it’s going to be much tougher than that.”
