Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus selected a strong 37-man squad for the first two Tests in the Castle Lager Rugby Championship against Australia, featuring 24 Rugby World Cup-winners and five players who made their Test debuts during their successful Castle Lager Incoming Series.

The Bok coach also invited three Young Guns, who were members of the triumphant Junior Springbok World Rugby U20 Championship squad –Bathobele Hlekani,Cheswill Jooste, andHaashim Pead – to train with the group during their two-week conditioning camp in Johannesburg starting on Sunday27 July, to orientate them into the Springbok culture.

The five players who earned their first Springbok Test caps in July are Ethan Hooker (utility back), Asenathi Ntlabakanye, Boan Venter (both props), Marnus van der Merwe (hooker), and Cobus Wiese (utility forward).

Meanwhile, Bath prop Thomas du Toit has been granted a compulsory two-week rest as agreed with the Gallagher Premiership, although he is eligible to be called up at any stage should the need arise, while No 8 Jasper Wiese is currently serving a four-week suspension, ruling him out of this squad. 

A handful of players, in turn, have been released to their respective franchises to build up game time in the Carling Currie Cup competition, although a few of them have been placed on standby for the Wallaby Tests. 

The standby players are Lukhanyo Am (centre), who missed the July Tests due to a knee niggle, Faf de Klerk (scrumhalf), Makazole Mapimpi (wing), Salmaan Moerat (lock), Evan Roos (No 8), Neethling Fouche (prop), and Vincent Tshituka (flanker).

In total, Erasmus’ squad includes 20 forwards and 17 backline players. The Springboks will face the Wallabies in Johannesburg on Saturday 16 August, and again a week later in Cape Town on 23 August.

“It’s always challenging to reduce the squad, especially given how the expanded group of players put up their hands during the Castle Lager Incoming Series, but we always said we would select a smaller, more manageable squad during the Castle Lager Rugby Championship,” said Erasmus. 

“This group includes several experienced players and a few younger guys, who grabbed their chances in the last few Tests, so we are pleased with this squad for the first two matches.

“We have also informed the players on standby what our plans are and what we expect from them, so that all of them are ready to step up if needed.”

Erasmus elaborated on the composition of the squad, saying: “We probably have three players who can cover each position, which is important in this competition, so it was a thorough process to narrow down the group to 36 players.

“One of our key pillars as a team is to build squad depth, and there is no better way to see what some of the younger players are capable of than to expose them to some of the top teams in the world.”

Of the young guns invited to train with the squad for the next two weeks, Erasmus said: “We are tremendously proud of the Junior Springboks for winning the World Rugby U20 Championship and we were thrilled to see the talent coming through the junior ranks, so we opted to invite three of them to join us to expose them to our structures and the standards required at top international level.

“We believe this camp will benefit them significantly, and we are excited to see how they slot in and train with us.

“Unfortunately, we had to limit the size of the squad to ensure maximum outputs and more individual attention at our training sessions, so although more players could have been invited, we could only select three.”

Erasmus expected a completely different challenge in the Castle Lager Rugby Championship to that against the Barbarians, Italy, and Georgia, and said: “Australia, New Zealand, and Argentina are all ranked in the top seven in the world, and if one considers that we won the Castle Lager Rugby Championship for the first time since 2019 last year, it is clear that this will be a completely different kettle of fish.

“All three teams have beaten us in the last few years and they play a different style of rugby to the other opposition we have faced thus far, but we are pleased with the foundation we laid in the last few weeks and we know exactly what areas of our game we need to work on going into the Castle Lager Rugby Championship.” 

Erasmus will announce his squad for the two-match tour to New Zealand in September before making the journey Down Under, where they will face their arch-rivals at Eden Park in Auckland on 6 September, and the Sky Stadium in Wellington on 13 September respectively.

The team will wrap up their campaign with Test matches against Argentina in Durban on Saturday 27 September, and in London on 4 October.

Springbok squad for the Castle Lager Rugby Championship Tests against Australia:

Forwards:Lood de Jager (Wild Knights),Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz), Jean-Luc du Preez (Bordeaux Begles), Eben Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Vincent Koch (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Siya Kolisi (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Wilco Louw (Vodacom Bulls), Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears), Bongi Mbonambi (Hollywoodbets Sharks),Franco Mostert (Honda Heat),Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Ruan Nortje (Vodacom Bulls), Asenathi Ntlabakanye (Lions), Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs),RG Snyman (Leinster),Marnus van der Merwe (Scarlets), Marco van Staden (Vodacom Bulls),Boan Venter (Edinburgh),Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Vodacom Bulls), Cobus Wiese (Vodacom Bulls).

Backs:Kurt-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls), Damian de Allende (Wild Knights), Andre Esterhuizen (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Aphelele Fassi (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (DHL Stormers), Ethan Hooker (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles), Cheslin Kolbe (Tokyo Sungoliath),Willie le Roux (Vodacom Bulls), Manie Libbok (DHL Stormers), Canan Moodie (Vodacom Bulls), Handre Pollard (Vodacom Bulls), Cobus Reinach (DHL Stormers),Edwill van der Merwe (Hollywoodbets Sharks),Morne van den Berg (Lions), Grant Williams (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers).