Have Springboks missed a trick by dropping rising talent?

Have the Springboks missed a trick by releasing some young up and coming talent from their squad for the start of the international season, and not taken the chance to rest a few senior players?

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus initially named a squad of 54 players for the one-off non-Test against the Barbarians and the incoming series against Italy and Georgia, but reduced that to 45 players after the United Rugby Championship final this past weekend.

In the process a number of injured players dropped out, namely props Gerhard Steenekamp and Ntuthuko Mchunu, loose forwards Cameron Hanekom, Juarno Augustus and Pieter-Steph du Toit, and centre Lukhanyo Am.

That left five other players, Jaden and Jordan Hendrikse, Quan Horn, Renzo du Plessis and Ntokozo Makhaza, to also be shed from the group, while Edinburgh prop Boan Venter was a late call-up due to the front row injuries.

The Boks thus have a pretty strong and experienced group available for the opening four games of their season, with just five players in the squad uncapped, namely Neethling Fouche, Asenathi Ntlabakanye, Vincent Tshituka, Cobus Wiese and Ethan Hooker.

It does seem a bit ridiculous to expect the Boks to rest players during the international season, when that is when they are expected to be at their absolute best, but due to the unenviable year-long rugby calendar that the majority of the national players face this was indeed a good opportunity to do just that — rest some senior players.

Chance to rest

Although players like Eben Etzebeth have been injured during the franchise season, it still might have been better to let him sit out the opening four games, along with others like captain Siya Kolisi, Willie le Roux and Handre Pollard.

It might also have benefitted some of the players that could be a big part of the Boks’ future, like Jordan Hendrikse and Quan Horn, to get a run of games against weaker opposition.

From the start of the Rugby Championship the full strength Bok squad is going to need to be in action, and they will do business right through until the last game of the end-of-year-tour at the end of November.

That is going to be a tough run, and not too many opportunities are likely to arise for uncapped and inexperienced players during that time.

So the Barbarians game in Cape Town, two Italian matches in Pretoria and Gqeberha, and the Georgian game in Mbombela, are the perfect opportunities to unleash the Bok fringe brigade.

That is likely to still be the case, and we could see debuts for all five of the uncapped players in the Bok squad over these games, but it may have served the Boks well to add a few more inexperienced players to the mix to build up some caps as they head towards the 2027 Rugby World Cup.