Rassie keeps faith in Kiwi beaters, loses Lood and Fassi

The Springboks have lost lock Lood de Jager and fullback Aphelele Fassi for the final two legs of the Castle Lager Rugby Championship, but coach Rassie Erasmus has resisted the urge to call up any new faces to the Bok squad.

That also means that the other players that left the field - Cheslin Kolbe and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu will recover in time from their niggles - and will be ready to take the field against Argentina in Durban next weekend.

The 33-man squad - three less than toured New Zealand - was named on Wednesday for the final two games against Los Pumas - one in Durban and one in London.

The squad will assemble in Durban on Thursday to begin their preparations for the final two games.

INJURED LIST

The other news is that a number of players who were sidelined remain that - prop Gerhard Steenekamp, winger Kurt-Lee Arendse, prop Frans Malherbe and lock Salmaan Moerat are all still on the injury list.

Bongi Mbonambi returns to the squad after missing the New Zealand leg because of personal issues, while Makazole Mapimpi and Faf de Klerk, who were late additions to the squad, remain with the team.

Morne van den Berg is also back in the mix, but there is no word on the exclusion of Edwill van der Merwe, who was injured, but has not been named in the injured group this time around.

The squad to face Argentina includes 18 forwards and 15 backline players. The teams will meet at Hollywoodbets Kings Park in Durban on 27 September, and at Allianz Stadium, Twickenham, in London on 4 October.

Following medical assessments in camp on Thursday, there is a possibility that a further three players could be added to the group later in the week, with a group of up to 30 players set to travel to London for the final match.

CLOSE BETWEEN TEAMS ON THE LOG

As things stand, the Wallabies are currently on 11 points going into their Bledisloe Cup matches against New Zealand, while the Springboks are in second place, and the All Blacks in third place (both on 10 points), while the Pumas are one point back with nine points – with all four teams having won two of their four matches to date.

“This group of players have been together for over 13 weeks now, and they’ve shown that they are the right players for this big task against the Pumas,” said Erasmus.

“We’ve chopped and changed our squad a fair bit this season, playing a total of 46 players in our last eight matches, including in the Barbarians match, and by training together almost daily, we are confident that these are the players who can give us the best shot to try to retain the title.”

Erasmus added: “The fact that the younger and older guys have been training with one another and against one another on the field almost daily really paid off last weekend, and we have no doubt that if we continue showing our faith in these players, we will get the best out of them.

DEPTH IS VAST IN CAMP

“The bonus for us is that we still have so many players who have been in the system and attended our alignment camps in the last few seasons, and who have been knocking hard on the door, but unfortunately, we could only select a limited number of players for these matches, so we will continue to keep an eye on the others.”

Erasmus admitted that it was disappointing losing players such as Fassi, De Jager, and Du Preez to injuries, but he was satisfied with the depth they had in the squad.

“We are blessed with talent in South Africa, so as sad as we are for players such as Lood, Jean-Luc, Aphelele, Kurt-Lee, and many others, we have capable guys to fill their boots,” said Erasmus.

“We are also fortunate to have so many versatile players who can play a few different positions, and they are equally adept in each of them, regardless of what position they play.”

PUMAS WILL BE TOUGH

Looking forward to the clashes against the Pumas, who moved up to sixth spot on the world rankings following their victory over the Wallabies in Sydney last weekend, Erasmus expected colossal battles against them, and said he had no doubt their victories against Australia, New Zealand, and the British & Irish Lions would fuel their motivation going into these encounters.

“The Pumas are a tough and physical outfit, and they’ll come to South Africa full of confidence after beating Australia 28-26 last weekend and knowing that they beat us in Santiago Del Estero last year, as well as the All Blacks earlier in the competition,” said Erasmus.

“They have quality forwards and backs, and they play with guts and passion, so we know it will take two great performances to beat them and hopefully reclaim the Castle Lager Rugby Championship title.

“The next two games are going to be vital for all four teams because there is so little between them in terms of the way they play, and given how close the standings are.

"Any team can still win the competition, so there is no margin for error, and every point will count. These are going to be massive battles.”

SPRINGBOK SQUAD FOR THE ARGENTINA LEG OF THE CASTLE LAGER RUGBY CHAMPIONSHIP:

Forwards: Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz), Thomas du Toit (Bath), Eben Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Vincent Koch (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Siya Kolisi (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Wilco Louw (Vodacom Bulls), Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears), Bongi Mbonambi (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Franco Mostert (Honda Heat), Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Ruan Nortje (Vodacom Bulls), Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs), RG Snyman (Leinster), Marnus van der Merwe (Scarlets), Marco van Staden (Vodacom Bulls), Boan Venter (Edinburgh), Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Vodacom Bulls), Jasper Wiese (Urayasu D-Rocks).

Backs: Damian de Allende (Wild Knights), Faf de Klerk (Canon Eagles), Andre Esterhuizen (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (DHL Stormers), Ethan Hooker (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Cheslin Kolbe (Tokyo Sungoliath), Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles), Manie Libbok (Kintetsu Liners), Makazole Mapimpi (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Canan Moodie (Vodacom Bulls), Handre Pollard (Vodacom Bulls), Cobus Reinach (DHL Stormers), Morne van den Berg (Lions), Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers), Grant Williams (Hollywoodbets Sharks).