Springboks coach: We are not picking ‘A and B sides’

Although the Springboks will employ a split-squad system in the Rugby Championship, there will not be an ‘A and B’ team. That’s according to coach Jacques Nienaber, who said the Boks intend repeating the plan that saw them clinch the Rugby Championship title in 2019 by splitting the squad for the opening two Tests of the competition as they zoom in on the southern hemisphere showpiece.

This will see a group of players and management members travel to Auckland the week of the opening Test against Australia at Loftus Versfeld (on Saturday 8 July) to acclimatise and get their preparations underway for the second Test, a week later against New Zealand at Mount Smart Stadium (Saturday 15 July).

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This will be followed by the third and final Test of the shortened version of the tournament two weeks later against Argentina at Emirates Airline Park in Johannesburg ( Saturday 29 July).

“We have a pretty good idea about how we want to split the squad for the Rugby Championship, but a lot needs to happen before we make a call on selection,” said Nienaber.

“We’ll probably make a decision the week before the Australia Test. As we mentioned last week, we are not selecting A and B sides. We are doing something similar to what we did in 2019 by selecting a team that is good enough to beat Australia at Loftus Versfeld.”

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With all this in mind, we’ve put on our selectors hat, and tried to predict what a new-look Bok side – which will undoubtedly be referred to as a ‘B’ team by some – could look like for the first Test of the year.

Possible Springboks line-up to face the Wallabies: 15 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Kwagga Smith, 6 Deon Fourie, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 RG Snyman, 3 Trevor Nyakane, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Thomas du Toit.

All in all, it’s still a very strong side, with a mix between Springbok regulars and a few ‘fringe’ players.

* Let us know by clicking on the comment button at the end of this article if you feel this is what the first Test team of the year could look like?

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SPRINGBOKS TRAINING SQUAD:

Props: Thomas du Toit (Cell C Sharks), Steven Kitshoff (DHL Stormers), Vincent Koch (Stade Francais), Frans Malherbe (DHL Stormers), Ox Nche (Cell C Sharks), Trevor Nyakane (Racing 92).

Hookers: Joseph Dweba (DHL Stormers), Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears), Bongi Mbonambi (Cell C Sharks).

Locks: Lood de Jager (Wild Knights), Eben Etzebeth (Cell C Sharks), Marvin Orie (DHL Stormers), RG Snyman (Munster), Jean Kleyn (Munster).

Loose Forwards: Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz), Siya Kolisi (Cell C Sharks), Evan Roos (DHL Stormers), Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs), Marco van Staden (Vodacom Bulls), Duane Vermeulen (Ulster), Jasper Wiese (Leicester).

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Utility Forwards: Jean-Luc du Preez (Sale Sharks), Deon Fourie (DHL Stormers), Franco Mostert (Honda Heat).

Scrumhalves: Faf de Klerk (Canon Eagles), Jaden Hendrikse (Cell C Sharks), Herschel Jantjies (DHL Stormers), Cobus Reinach (Montpellier), Grant Williams (Cell C Sharks).

Flyhalves: Manie Libbok (DHL Stormers), Handre Pollard (Leicester), Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers), Elton Jantjies (Agen).

Centres: Lukhanyo Am (Cell C Sharks), Damian de Allende (Wild Knights), Andre Esterhuizen (Harlequins), Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles).

Outside Backs: Kurt-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls), Cheslin Kolbe (Toulon), Willie le Roux (Toyota Verblitz), Makazole Mapimpi (Cell C Sharks), Canan Moodie (Vodacom Bulls).

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SA 2023 FIXTURES:

Castle Lager Rugby Championship:

Saturday, 8 July – Springboks vs Australia (Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria)

Saturday, 15 July – Springboks vs New Zealand (Mount Smart Stadium, Auckland)

Saturday, 29 July – Springboks vs Argentina (Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg)

RWC warm-up fixtures:

Saturday, 5 August – Springboks v Argentina (Velez Sarsfield, Buenos Aires)

Saturday, 19 August – Springboks vs Wales (Principality Stadium, Cardiff)

Friday, 25 August – Springboks vs New Zealand (Twickenham, London)

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RWC fixtures:

Sunday, 10 September – Boks v Scotland (Stade Marseille, Marseille)

Sunday, 17 September – Boks v Romania (Stade de Bordeaux, Bordeaux)

Saturday, 23 September – Boks v Ireland (Stade de France, Paris)

Sunday, 1 October – Boks v Tonga (Stade Marseille, Marseille)

Weekend of 14/15 October – Quarter-finals

Weekend of 21/22 October – Semi-finals

Saturday, 28 October – Final