Springbok Training Squad

A preliminary Springbok training squad of 20 players for the forthcoming end-of-year tour to the United Kingdom and France was announced on Sunday, with Duane Vermeulen, Trevor Nyakane and Lood de Jager making a return to the group, while Tendai Mtawarira was ruled out of the tour due to injury.

The majority of the squad players have already assembled on Sunday for camp, which will last for a week before they depart in two groups to London next Saturday.

Overseas-based players and those involved in the 2018 Currie Cup Final were not considered for the Stellenbosch camp.

De Jager is back in the Springbok mix following a lengthy injury lay-off, while Nyakane, who joined the Springboks for their last two Rugby Championship Tests to continue his rehabilitation and conditioning, is also included in the group. Vermeulen played for the Boks in the 2-1 series win over England in June but did not feature in the Rugby Championship.

“It is good to welcome back a player of the caliber of Lood – he will add experience to a position where we already have some very good competition for places. Duane, of course, will also bring similar valuable experience to the group,” said Rassie Erasmus, the SA Rugby Director of Rugby.

Erasmus also confirmed that Mtawarira, the most experienced player in the Bok squad on 107 Test Caps, was not considered due to an injury he sustained against the All Blacks in Pretoria earlier this month.

According to Erasmus, the Springbok coaching staff are looking forward to start working again with the players following a short break after the Rugby Championship.

“It’s a tough tour and our preparation time is limited, but we have set ourselves some goals and as has been the case the entire season, we would like to see the squad continue to grow as a group and add to our depth with the 2019 Rugby World Cup less than a year away,” said Erasmus.

The Springboks open their tour on Saturday, November 3 at Twickenham in London when they face England for a fourth time this year. The Springboks won the Incoming Series against Eddie Jones’ men by 2-1 in June.

A week later, Siya Kolisi and his Springbok team-mates tackle France at the Stade de France in Paris. On November 17, Scotland host the Springboks at Murrayfield in Edinburgh, before the tour concludes with a visit to the Principality Stadium in Cardiff to play Wales on Saturday, November 24.

Erasmus will announce the full Springbok tour squad for the 2018 end-of-year tour after next Saturday’s Currie Cup final, when Western Province host the Sharks in Cape Town.

Springbok training squad:

Forwards: 

1. Schalk Brits
2. Lood de Jager
3. Pieter-Steph du Toit
4. Eben Etzebeth
5. Steven Kitshoff
6. Siya Kolisi
7. Frans Malherbe
8. Malcolm Marx
9. Trevor Nyakane
10. RG Snyman
11. Duane Vermeulen
12. Warren Whiteley
    

Backs: 

1. Damian de Allende
2. Aphiwe Dyantyi
3. André Esterhuizen
4. Elton Jantjies
5. Jesse Kriel
6. Embrose Papier
7. Handré Pollard
8. Ivan van Zyl
   

So Vermeulen and Esterhuizen are back after their holiday in Japan.  There are no released players from the Sharks and WP in that squad  and no players from NH clubs either.

What happened to your favourite Mostert?   He was not released and did not play on Saturday either?

As far as I can make out - it is not necessarily so that all the above players will end up in the squad for the NH tour,   They may just be in the training squad in case some of the released players are injured.  And then there will be some added NH club players who come  onto the scene as well.   

By the way - are you getting the message as to Lood De Jager?  

Mostert is not one of my "favourite" players. Drop the tribe x; tribe y thinking. 

No - but I assume you did not prefer him to Du Toit and your hysteria about that happening? 

When I wrote about De Jager - the same hysteria came to the fore.  

So why is my assumption wrong?  You really are a funny guy.  

Duplication

"What happened to your favourite Mostert?   He was not released and did not play on Saturday either?"

How about finding out the reasons first, before making wild assumptions. Mostert is in the middle of contract/transfer issues and may not be available at the time.

But we all know your fantasy world of Mostert being "dropped" will live on forever in your mind. So in order to save all of us from reading your drivel, why not just say "Duplication" and we will all know what you wanted to say.... On any topic!

OR...

So, if we say Mostert was "dropped" for performance reasons, we also would have to say that Jantjies was "retained" for performance reasons????

The Trooth Fairy

I asked what happened in the case of Mostert and he gave me an answer.

What I said stemmed from the remarks Erasmus made about the lock situation before De Jager was injured and I merely persisted on that basis.    Mozart and AO went on their standard anti-Du Toit and De Jager campaigns and I merely keep saying that what Erasmus said originally about Etzebeth and De Jager being his key lock players.

There is no way that under that circumstances Mostert will remain as lock and unless there is a massive deterioration of De Jager performance-wise- he will be the future lock partner of Etzebeth.

One cannot debate anything with those two without you as one of the most useless and clueless members jumping in to support the ramblings of the two whose only contributions to site is distorted by their prejudice against certain players.    Really a joke to see hiow your mind is as dull as only you could be.   LOL        

Lood may be Rassie's choice, but he won't be the right one. Lood is not going to replace Mostert's work rate or dynamism. He isn't going to better Eben in the lineout. What advantage does he give us? In fact, there is nothing Mostert does that Snyman doesn't do significantly better. Lood will be a bit of an embarrassing selection for you, as it only reinforces Rassie's 2004 Bulle ball, as interpreted by you. 

No AO

When playing for the Bulls De Jager was always a far better performer than Snyman - but that would not be recognized by you since your attention to performance is merely perfunctory - the only thing that count in the end with you is prejudice.    When playing for the bulls De Jager at times were either captain or vice-captain - so please start thinking properly for a change.    

I haven't been watching his performances for the Bulls. I have seen what he can do at test level. He is a very limited player devoid of any kind of skills. Fans call for a modern game, then the call for Lood? Laughable. He belongs in the 1950s. 

Balls - in De Jager's short career of 36 tests e Jager scored 4 tries as against  Matfield's 7 tries in 133 tests.   That shows that he is anything bar the negatives you have always used to attack him. 

He is really a top class modern player - get over your pet hatred of him.  

There isn't a single aspect of Lood's game that is modern or cutting edge. Think of Victor's chip to setup a try against Australia. Or the numerous link plays. Lood has hands like blocks of wood. He is slow and ponderous. The acceleration of a toboggan being pulled by a kitten. A tall tree trunk in a jersey with the tackle radius of a biscuit. 

AO

Do me the favour of looking at De Jager's try against Japan in the WC and more recently at the try he scored in the  match between the Bulls and the Hurricanes this year and then explain why your response is a variation from the facts.

The more you ploughed on with self-discovered misleading generalities about players - the sillier your postings become.

Matfield may have done all what you claimed - which I assumed happened before his retirement in 2011- but the fact remains he was totally  ineffective in Tight 5 play during 2014 and 2015.    

The small Japanese. Wow. Where was he in the four Puma tests, Wales, New Zealand, Australia? He has no record of excellence at test level. A blowout test against Scotland and a run against Japan. This doesn't compare very well with the leading locks in the game. And to think, you questioned Eben. 

So De Jager was made the Player of the Year despite his many deficiencies,    You said he was slow with poor ball skills and  I mentioned two tries scored by him where your descriptions were in fact nullified.   

I never questioned Etzebeth's performances - prove it please,

Best suggestion remove most players from your pet hate list and straighten out what you write on site.