The Bok boss is spoiled for choice for the Test match in Perth next Sunday.
Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus could shake up his team for the one-off Test against Australia in Perth. Picture: Floris van Schouwenburg/Gallo Images
The Springboks will now turn their attention to the one-off Test against the Wallabies in Perth next Sunday and the big question is, who will coach Rassie Erasmus turn to for that match?
The majority of the Springbok squad that travelled to Baltimore for last Saturday’s fourth Test against the All Blacks, which the Boks won to take the series 3-1, are not likely to feature against the Wallabies.
A number of those players, among them Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende, Jasper Wiese, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Eben Etzebeth, Ruan Nortje and Malcolm Marx started all four Tests and some of them played all 80 minutes of each match.
Others like Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Siya Kolisi, Wilco Louw, Thomas du Toit and Ox Nche also featured prominently, though the front row men didn’t play full games.
After four big Tests, Erasmus may want to freshen up his squad for the match against Australia.
On top of that, many of the players will be wanted by their United Rugby Championship franchises over the next few days as they build-up to the start of the next URC season, which gets under way next Friday, 25 September, two days before the Boks match in Perth.
Also, the Boks have part two of the inaugural season of the Nations Championship to think about, which takes place in Europe in November. The Boks are due to play Italy (7 November), France (14 November) and Ireland (21 November) and a “finals game” (28 November) during the month.
It will thus come as no surprise if Erasmus opts for a completely different matchday-23 to the ones he picked for the bulk of the four Tests against the All Blacks.
However, players who were in the mix for the first two Tests against the New Zealanders such as Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Zachary Porthen, Paul de Villiers, Marco van Staden and Cobus Wiese could feature against Les Kiss’ Wallabies.
Also, expect Aphelele Fassi, Edwill van der Merwe, Canan Moodie, Handré Pollard, Herschel Jantjies, Elrigh Louw, Ben-Jason Dixon, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Carlu Sadie, Boan Venter, Johan Grobbelaar to be in the selection basket, as well as Andre-Hugo Venter, Evan Roos, Quan Horn and maybe Vusi Moyo, Batho Hlekani and Haashim Pead.
But there will also likely be space on the flight to Western Australia for some men who didn’t play too much over the course of the New Zealand series. Here we think of Damian Willemse, Ethan Hooker, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Manie Libbok, Morné van den Berg, Cameron Hanekom, Deon Fourie, Lood de Jager and the props.
It is also not known what the injury status is of Franco Mostert, Grant Williams, or whether Vincent Tshituka, Jaco Williams and Embrose Papier will be considered.
Erasmus has plenty of players to pick from. he is expected to name his lineup for the one-off match early next week.
The bulk of the Bok squad that travelled to the USA are believed to still be in the Baltimore, New York area and will fly directly to Australia later this week.
