Rassie keeps faith in Kiwi beaters, loses Lood and Fassi
Rugby
The Springboks have lost lock Lood de Jager and fullback Aphelele Fassi for the final two legs of the Castle Lager Rugby Championship, but coach Rassie Erasmus has resisted the urge to call up any new faces to the Bok squad.That also means that the other players that left the field – Cheslin Kolbe and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu – will recover in time from their niggles and will be ready to take the field against Argentina in Durban next weekend.
The 33-man squad – three less than toured New Zealand – was named on Wednesday for the final two games against Los Pumas – one in Durban and one in London.
The squad will assemble in Durban today to begin their preparations for the final two games.
The other news is that a number of players who were sidelined remain that - prop Gerhard Steenekamp, winger Kurt-Lee Arendse, prop Frans Malherbe and lock Salmaan Moerat are all still on the injury list.
Bongi Mbonambi returns to the squad after missing the New Zealand leg because of personal issues, while Makazole Mapimpi and Faf de Klerk, who were late additions to the squad, remain with the team.
Morne van den Berg is also back in the mix, but there is no word on the exclusion of Edwill van der Merwe, who was injured, but has not been named in the injured group this time around.
The squad to face Argentina includes 18 forwards and 15 backline players. The teams will meet at Kings Park in Durban on Saturday 27 September, and at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, in London on 4 October.
As things stand, the Wallabies are currently on 11 points going into their Bledisloe Cup matches against New Zealand, while the Springboks are in second place, and the All Blacks in third place (both on 10 points), while the Pumas are one point back with nine points – with all four teams having won two of their four matches to date.
– SuperSport.com/rugby