Springboks take some time off as Rassie Erasmus scouts the fringes
After claiming the Rugby Championship spectacularly this past weekend, there won’t be any real rest for the Springbok coaches, who shift their attention to the URC to keep a keen eye on the Boks’ fringe players.
While head coach Rassie Erasmus alluded to the fact that some of the players planned to take a well-deserved holiday in Mauritius, he and his coaches will take stock and start plotting for the world champions’ trip to the UK next month.
The Springboks will take on Scotland (November 10), England (November 16) and Wales (November 23) in their final three Tests of 2024. It’s been a season that has brought convincing wins over most of their opponents and only two losses by a single point against Ireland and Argentina.
Apart from claiming the Championship title, a first since 2019 and their third trophy this season, bringing through promising players was one of the other highlights in Erasmus’ first season back as Bok mentor.
And that's a wrap! A joyous day of celebration in the Lowveld brings a wonderful local Test season to an end 🥳🥳🥳#Springboks#ForeverGreenForeverGold pic.twitter.com/SId4lJbtHM
— Springboks (@Springboks) September 29, 2024
The depth he has created by giving more junior players a chance, even in big Test matches, has gone down well in the set-up and has only strengthened the squad with the big goal obviously being to have a larger pool of players to select from when the 2027 Rugby World Cup comes along.
“For us, it’s now to watch the URC and monitor those guys playing,” Erasmus said.
“We’ve seen some in the Currie Cup, guys like Quan Horn, Krappies (Morne van den Berg). Thomas (du Toit) will probably go back to Bath (his club in England). We have a tough three-match schedule in November that is something we would like to go unbeaten in. The coaches will be off for three weeks, but working too.
“After three weeks, the guys who are available, locally, from their English or Japanese clubs, they will get together in Cape Town. We are probably looking at about 10 Japanese players. And as more players get released, we will prepare the last two weeks (together) before we go overseas.”
The attention will shift to players like scrumhalf Van den Berg, utility back Horn, loose forward Ruan Venter (all Lions), and Bulls players Johan Grobbelaar (hooker), Canan Moodie (centre), Cameron Hanekom and Mpilo Gumede (both loose forwards) who will soon embark on trips to Europe with their respective franchises.
Both sides will play four games up north in the URC and Erasmus will get a good look at how those players go before the announcement of his tour squad.
The Stormers and Sharks are playing in the north already and Erasmus and his assistant coaches will keep a keen eye on how the likes of Andre-Hugo Venter (hooker), Ben-Jason Dixon (loose forward), JD Schickerling and Ruben van Heerden (locks) are fronting up for the Stormers, while the performances of Jordan Hendrikse (utility back), André Esterhuizen (centre), Ntuthuko Mchunu and youngster Ethan Hooker (utility back) should pique the interest of the national side.