Handre Pollard among the 13 additions to South Africa's training squad
Duane Vermeulen, Handre Pollard (both Bulls), Lukhanyo Am, Sibusiso Nkosi (both Sharks) and Francois Louw (Bath) are among a group of 13 players who have been added to the Springbok training group in Pretoria in preparation of the forthcoming Rugby Championship.
The Bulls and the Sharks completed their Super Rugby commitments last weekend, meaning their invited players can join the current national training group. The squad has been in camp since last weekend and the attendance will now increase to 39 players.
Ruan Botha (Sharks, foot surgery), Dan du Preez (Sharks, rib fracture), Warren Whiteley (Lions, knee surgery), Damian Willemse (Stormers, knee surgery) and Jan Serfontein (ankle surgery) were not considered for the training camp due to injury.
Rassie Erasmus, the Springbok director of rugby, said his management was very pleased with the amount of work they were able to do with the reduced size group during the past week in Pretoria.
“After our series of alignment camps, it was great to get the available group of players together and to get going with our field sessions,” said Erasmus.
“Kwagga Smith has recovered from his hamstring strain and was cleared to return to training, which meant that we were able to have 25 players available for our daily field training sessions. Our captain, Siya Kolisi, is continuing with his rehabilitation and the aim is to have him ready in time for the start of the Rugby Championship.”
The Springboks will kick off their shortened Championship campaign on July 20 against the Wallabies in Johannesburg, which will be followed a week later by the keenly awaited rematch with New Zealand in Wellington - the scene of last year’s epic away-win against the All Blacks.
The Boks will conclude their official campaign against Argentina two weeks later on August 10 in Salta, while the same two teams are set to meet again a week later in Pretoria in a once-off Test before the Boks report for World Cup training duty.
REVISED SPRINGBOK SQUAD
Forwards - Schalk Brits (Bulls), Marcell Coetzee (Ulster), Lood de Jager (Bulls), Dan du Preez (Sharks), Thomas du Toit (Sharks), Pieter-Steph du Toit (Stormers), Rynardt Elstadt (Toulouse), Eben Etzebeth (Stormers), Lizo Gqoboka (Bulls), Steven Kitshoff (Stormers), Vincent Koch (Saracens), Siya Kolisi (Stormers), Francois Louw (Bath), Frans Malherbe (Stormers), Malcolm Marx (Lions), Bongi Mbonambi (Stormers), Tendai Mtawarira (Sharks), Franco Mostert (Gloucester), Trevor Nyakane (Bulls), Marvin Orie (Lions), Kwagga Smith (Lions), RG Snyman (Bulls), Duane Vermeulen (Bulls);
Backs: Lukhanyo Am (Sharks), Damian de Allende (Stormers), Andre Esterhuizen (Sharks), Faf de Klerk (Sale), Aphiwe Dyantyi (Lions), Warrick Gelant (Bulls), Elton Jantjies (Lions), Herschel Jantjies (Stormers), Cheslin Kolbe (Toulouse), Jesse Kriel (Bulls), Dillyn Lleyds (Stormers), Makazole Mapimpi (Sharks), Sibusiso Nkosi (Sharks), Willie le Roux (Verblitz), Handre Pollard (Bulls), Cobus Reinach (Northampton), Frans Steyn (Montpellier).
WATCH: Part one of the two-part RugbyPass documentary on what fans can expect in Japan at this year’s World Cup
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To be fair it was nowhere bear the Leinster first team (for which, btw, Leinster copped nothing like the outrage that Jake White did for sending a rotated team to the UK). But it’s fun to watch the Stormers doing their thing. They are attracting big, diverse crowds of young fans, and deservedly so. Great to see.
Go to commentsIt might be legal but he’s sailing pretty close to the wind. Not a lot needs to go wrong for Finau to end up in the bin. Was it late? Not quite, but borderline. High? A couple of CM within the laws, no room for error with that one. Did he wrap the arms? There was a token effort to wrap one arm, the intent was clearly to hit with the shoulder. So yeah, it’s legal, just. But as we all know, a very slight change in the dynamics could easily have him seeing red. Hopefully not when it really matters.
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