Rugby Union Today: Springboks name World Cup squad

Colin Newboult 26 Aug 2019 5:20 PM

Another busy day in the rugby union game as Rassie Erasmus announced his 31-man South Africa squad for the upcoming World Cup in Japan.

What’s on the site

South Africa will go into the World Cup with a settled squad after Rassie Erasmus confirmed his 31-man group. There are no real surprises with Siya Kolisi leading the side after returning from injury.

Elsewhere, there were two further World Cup warm-up games as England thrashed Ireland and Scotland narrowly defeated France. Unsurprisingly, the Red Rose make up the bulk of our Team of the Week following their impressive triumph over the 2018 Grand Slam winners.

Those matches are discussed in ‘who’s hot and who’s not,’ which delves into the issues from the past seven days, including Bayonne’s shock victory over Racing 92 and Jordan Petaia’s selection for the Australian squad.

What’s in the news

Springboks lock Eben Etzebeth has been named in their squad for the World Cup, despite reports of him being involved in an altercation at the weekend. On social media, the second-row has denied assaulting and pointing a gun at a homeless man in Langebaan.

Meanwhile, English Premiership club Saracens have announced that Will Skelton has extended his stay with the Londoners. Skelton had been linked with a move back to Australia so that he could play a part in the upcoming World Cup, but that has been quashed by this new two-year deal.

What’s on social media

Following England’s excellent effort at announcing their World Cup squad, South African TV channel SuperSport have rivalled that by putting together this brilliant video.

We got Bok supporters from around the country to help announce the @Springboks squad for #RWC2019 🏉#StrongerTogether 🇿🇦 pic.twitter.com/gLzDS4qwBg

— SuperSport 🏆 (@SuperSportTV) August 26, 2019