Springboks: Rassie Erasmus releases 16 players ahead of Portugal Test
Rassie Erasmus has trimmed his squad ahead of the Test against Portugal.
Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus has released a host of players from his training squad ahead of the Test match against Portugal.
Following the nail-biting drawn series with Ireland and the Test victory over Wales, Erasmus has opted to release several of his squad members from the group, giving them time off.
This will give the Springboks players a chance to reset ahead of what promises to be a fiercely contested Rugby Championship campaign.
The 16 players will be afforded a 10-day break before rejoining the squad to continue preparations for the tournament.
Springboks reduce squad
Erasmus has trimmed his training squad from 41 to just 25 with two players remaining in Bloemfontein with the matchday 23 as injury cover.
Grant Williams and Ox Nche are the two players who will remain with the squad to provide cover in the backs and forwards for the clash against Os Lobos.
Meanwhile, Siya Kolisi, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Marco van Staden, Kwagga Smith, Jasper Wiese, Eben Etzebeth, Vincent Koch, Frans Malherbe, Gerhard Steenekamp, Bongi Mbonambi, Malcolm Marx, Willie le Roux, Cheslin Kolbe, Faf de Klerk, Handre Pollard and Jesse Kriel have all been afforded a break. Lock Franco Mostert was not included on the list as he is set to miss the start of the Rugby Championship through injury after breaking his leg in the second Test against Ireland.
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“We have a demanding Castle Lager Rugby Championship campaign coming up, and we’ve been in training camps and competition respectively since June, so we thought it would be beneficial to give the players who are not playing this weekend a proper break to regenerate,” Erasmus explained.
“The players have Thursday off and we only have the captains run left on Friday before the match, so it makes sense to give the players not involved in the match some time off.
‘We have to be sensible’
“We are playing back-to-back Test matches against the Wallabies in Australia next month, and then we face New Zealand on successive weekends in South Africa, followed by a short tour to Argentina and then a trip to Nelspruit where we will conclude the tournament against Los Pumas, so we have to be sensible in how we manage the players to get the most out of them on the field.”
The Boks boss believes that he is well covered with just the two players remaining behind to cover the matchday 23 but explained that there would be enough time for another player to join the squad in Bloemfontein if that was required.
“Bloemfontein is only a flight away if we need additional cover, and since we had a big group of players who are all fully clued up on what we expect from Portugal, so believe this is the best decision for the team,” he added.
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