Rassie Erasmus has named a 35-man squad for the Springboks’ first Test of the season and 11 of them are uncapped rookies.
Players based in Europe, the United Kingdom and Ireland will not be considered for the Springboks’ first Test of the season against Wales at Twickenham. Players in contention from the Bulls, who advanced to the semi-final of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship, were also not considered for this squad.
Despite the non-selection of any Bulls players, there’ll be grave concerns among the Springbok management team over the injuries suffered by wings Canan Moodie and particularly Kurt-Lee Arendse.
Additionally, Steven Kitshoff, Lood de Jager, Jaden Hendrikse, Damian Willemse and Deon Fourie were not considered for the squad due to injury.
All things considered, the untimely injuries and unavailability the other fit Test players, opened the door for the selection of 11 Springbok hopefuls, which consists of four Stormers, four Lions and three Sharks players.
In terms of positions, they are seven backline players and four forwards.
LISTING THE UNCAPPED ROOKIES WHO MADE THE BOK CUT
- Jordan Hendrikse (the brother of Jaden Hendrikse)
- Quan Horn
- Edwill van der Merwe
- Morne van den Berg
- Phepsi Buthelezi
- Siya Masuku
- Ethan Hooker
- Ben-Jason Dixon
- Sacha Feinberg-Mgomezulu
- Neethling Fouche
- Andre-Hugo Venter
SPRINGBOKS’ FULL 2024 TEST SCHEDULE
Mid-year Test fixtures
Saturday, 22 June: Springboks vs Wales (Twickenham, London)
Saturday, 6 July: SA vs Ireland (Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria)
Saturday, 13 July: Springboks vs Ireland (Hollywoodbets Kings Park, Durban)
Saturday, 20 July: SA vs Portugal (Toyota Stadium, Bloemfontein)
Rugby Championship fixtures
Saturday, 10 August: Australia vs SA (Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane)
Saturday, 17 August: Australia vs SA (Optus Stadium, Perth)
Saturday, 31 August: Springboks vs New Zealand (Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg)
Saturday, 7 September: SA v New Zealand (DHL Stadium, Cape Town)
Saturday, 21 September: Argentina v Springboks (Estadio Unico Madre de Ciudades, Santiago)
Saturday, 28 September: SA v Argentina (Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit)
End-of-year-tour fixtures
Sunday, 10 November: Scotland vs Springboks (Murrayfield, Edinburgh)
Saturday, 16 November: England vs SA (Twickenham, London)
Saturday, 23 November: Wales vs Springboks (Principality Stadium, Cardiff)
