Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus said at a media conference on Tuesday that the door remains open for senior players like Faf de Klerk and Vincent Koch.
“I think there’s a much longer list than just Faf and Vincent,” Erasmus said when asked about their absence on Tuesday. “You can add Bongi, Jaden, Jordan, Ethan, Sebastian, Sacha, Trevor and others. Every player’s situation is different.”
“There are another 15 to 17 players who are injured, being rested or who may be better suited to specific matches later in the campaign.”
“There are players we’re resting a little bit and others who may be better suited to matches against teams like Scotland, Argentina or New Zealand,” Erasmus said.
Explaining the decision not to include Faf de Klerk, Erasmus explained that scrumhalf remains a key position.
“We always like to have four nines in our squad. We feel more comfortable with that; Cobus is back, and he’s an experienced guy at 35. We generally like one of our scrumhalves to be a senior player who can guide the younger guys.”
“We know what Faf can do. We’ve worked with him, we’ve trained with him, and we know his value.”
“We’ve always rated Herschel Jantjies, and now we want to have a proper look at him.”
Erasmus suggested that the teams for the upcoming Nations Championships have already been decided on.
“We have plans for the second game and the third game in the home Nation Championship fixtures, and beyond. This isn’t a World Cup squad where you’re restricted to one group of players.”
“A day after the first game we might send some players back to rest and bring others in.”
“There are massive games coming later against Argentina, New Zealand and Australia.”
“We want to make sure that when we get to the World Cup we’ve looked at everybody and know exactly what they can offer.”