Rassie Erasmus’ plans for Pieter-Steph du Toit revealed as another Springboks star returns after seven months out
Springboks Pieter-Steph du Toit and Lood de Jager.
Rassie Erasmus has been dealt a timely injury boost ahead of the Springboks’ international season with Lood de Jager returning to full fitness.
South Africa have somewhat of a locking crisis before the game against the Barbarians and the start of the Nations Championship that sees them take on England, Scotland and Wales.
The most capped Springbok of all-time, Eben Etzebeth, missed the latter stages of the Sharks’ season due to a hip injury he sustained on his return from suspension, while fellow World Cup winner Jean Kleyn is not expected to be available until midway through July. There were also concerns around Salmaan Moerat’s fitness, but he marked his comeback in the Stormers’ quarter-final against Cardiff last weekend.
Lood de Jager fitness boost
Furthermore, Lions star forward Ruan Venter was tipped to feature prominently for the Springboks this year. According to Rapport, Erasmus planned to utilise the usual back-rower at lock this year, but he sustained a serious knee injury against Leinster which has curtailed those plans.
He joins Kleyn, Etzebeth and RG Snyman on the sidelines, with the latter ruled out for the entirety of the 2026 international season. Erasmus is not short on options despite the growing injury list and has been handed a boost with De Jager returning to the pitch in Japan this weekend.
The veteran lock is regarded as a loosehead lock but has featured in the number four jumper for the Springboks before. The 33-year-old could be tasked with doing the same this year as he marks his return in the Saitama Wild Knights’ final game of the season against Tokyo Sungoliath.
He has been named in the starting line-up for the Japan Rugby League One third-place play-off fixture and will combine with New Zealander Liam Mitchell. De Jager joins fellow Springbok Damian de Allende in the starting XV for the clash against Cheslin Kolbe’s side. Kolbe has been named on the bench for Sungoliath.
Pieter-Steph du Toit boost
De Jager is bound to be included in the Springboks squad if he gets through the match unscathed and according to Rapport, Erasmus is planning to utilise Pieter-Steph du Toit in the second-row too.
Du Toit missed much of Toyota Verblitz’s season due to a shoulder injury but has reportedly recovered in time to play the July internationals. The two-time World Rugby Player of the Year slotted into the second-row for the Boks in 2024 during another lock injury crisis and could be tasked with doing so again given his knowledge of the team’s lineout calls and overall game plan.
He is also a strong scrummager, which gives him the edge in the locks over the likes of uncapped stars JJ van der Mescht and Batho Hlekani. The duo were both invited to alignment camps earlier this year, but their lack of knowledge of the team’s structures counts against them with an eye to the July Tests. Hlekani has also played most of his senior rugby on the side of the scrum but could become an option in the second-row going forward.
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Number five locks Ruan Nortje and Franco Mostert are also expected to be named in Erasmus’ first official training squad of the year, while Junior Bok captain Riley Norton could also come into the selection frame.
While the second-row stocks look to be bolstered, there are injury concerns elsewhere with Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Malcolm Marx, Bongi Mbonambi, Aphelele Fassi, Grant Williams, Morne van den Berg, Kwagga Smith, Cobus Reinach and Ethan Hooker being in doubt or ruled out for July.
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Sungoliath v Wild Knights line-ups
Tokyo Sungoliath: 15 Kotaro Matsushima, 14 Kohei Yasuda, 13 Shogo Nakano, 12 Isaiah Punivai, 11 Taiga Ozaki, 10 Kaleb Trask, 9 Kenta Fukuda, 8 Patrick Vakata, 7 Sam Cane, 6 Pierich Siebert, 5 George Hammond, 4 Ryuga Hashimoto, 3 Shinnosuke Kakinaga, 2 Kosuke Horikoshi, 1 Atsuki Yamamoto
Replacements: 16 Kienori Go, 17 Yukio Morikawa, 18 Shuhei Takeuchi, 19 Koji Iino, 20 Kai Yamamoto, 21 Yutaka Nagare, 22 Ryoto Nakamura, 23 Cheslin Kolbe
Wild Knights: 15 Tom Parton, 14 Ryuji Noguchi, 13 Dylan Riley, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Maurice Marks, 10 Takaya Saito, 9 Taiki Koyama, 8 Viliami Afu Kaipouli, 7 Lachlan Boshier, 6 Ben Gunter, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Liam Mitchell, 3 Asaeli Ai Valu, 2 Atsushi Sakate, 1 Craig Millar
Replacements: 16 Kazuma Shimane, 17 Yusaku Kihara, 18 Lisala Finau, 19 Ockie Barnard, 20 Jack Cornelsen, 21 Shu Hagihara, 22 Kanjiro Naramoto, 23 Esei Haangana
