Hanekom's loss is Roos' gain as call-up comes to Bok squad

Cameron Hanekom’s loss is Evan Roos’ gain.

Well, perhaps not exactly. But there is enough evidence to read into the fact that Hanekom’s injury in Saturday’s Vodacom United Rugby Championship semifinal win over the Hollywoodbets Sharks may have opened the door for Roos.

The Stormers No.8 had been left out of the initial 54-man squad for the upcoming Castle Lager Incoming Tour internationals against the Barbarians, Italy and Georgia, but after Hanekom was injured on Saturday, the call-up came on Sunday for Roos to join the team.

While it is currently unclear how long Hanekom will be on the sidelines, and hamstrings are notoriously difficult to heal quickly, the Bulls No.8 has had rotten luck just before the international season. He was denied his debut last year when he was injured in the final against Glasgow Warriors at the same stadium but eventually got his cap against Wales in November.

But now the injury has rotten timing again for the player who won the URC award for Next Generation Player of the season.

Hanekom was upset at the news, as coach Jake White relayed it on Saturday night to the media.

“He's just having a sonar now. Obviously, he's very upset,” White said.

“I mean, that's natural. But I said to his parents now in the change room, he's 21. Don’t forget that. When I started coaching, 21-year-old forwards weren't invited to Northern Transvaal training. And if they were, it was generally to be cannon fodder for the old men to bash them on a Monday night.

“So he's obviously jumped the queue because he's so talented and he feels a bit down now but we mustn't forget he's only 21 years old and there's still a lot of rugby that he's going to be involved in over the next couple of years.”

White added that Hanekom will definitely not be involved in Saturday’s final in Dublin against Leinster, as the risk of travelling with the injury was too high. The Bulls left Sunday for Dublin to prepare for the final.

“When it is swollen and there’s blood on it, it is tough to see,” White said afterwards.

“They had a look and he won’t play next week, that I can tell you. He thinks he can. He said he might go to the same doctor Goosen went to,” the coach added, referring to Dr Wim Hiddema, who got Johan Goosen back within weeks after what was initially thought to be a career-ending injury.

“He can’t travel with such an injury. I’m hoping for his sake it’s like Goosen – a short-term rather than a long-term injury.”

Hanekom has not been withdrawn from the Bok squad, but with the injury can obviously not take part in any preparations on field for the test season just yet.

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus called up Roos on Sunday as the Bok group gathered in Johannesburg. Roos, who attended the first alignment in Cape Town in February, has run out seven times in the green and gold. His last test was against Portugal in Bloemfontein in the 2024 Castle Lager Incoming Series, before he was sidelined for several months due to shoulder surgery.

The Boks will kick off their season against the Barbarians in Cape Town on Saturday, 28 June, in the first ever match between the sides on South African soil, before taking on Italy in back-to-back tests in Pretoria and Gqeberha on 5 and 12 July, and Georgia in Nelspruit on 19 July in the Castle Lager Incoming Series.

With the Vodacom Bulls and Leinster battling it out in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship Grand Final at Croke Park in Dublin next week Saturday, and Bath and Leicester meeting in the Gallagher Premiership final on the same day, the players will join the squad based on a staggered approach, until the completion of respective club commitments.