Boks v England: Who will Rassie turn to for Nations Championship opener?
· Citizen
As excitement builds ahead of this coming weekend’s first Springbok Test of the season, the question on everyone’s lips is, who will coach Rassie Erasmus pick to take on England at Ellis Park?
The teams clash in the first round of the new Nations Championship competition, with kick off at 5.40pm.
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Following last week’s warm-up match against the Barbarians in Cape Town, Erasmus named a 46-man squad for the opener this weekend, so it’s anyone’s guess who the World Cup-winning coach will turn to for the first Test of the year.
Up front
Siya Kolisi is sure to captain the team from the side of the scrum, Malcolm Marx is certain to start at hooker and there’s every chance senior stars Pieter-Steph du Toit and Cheslin Kolbe will play from the outset. But who Erasmus picks elsewhere will only be revealed when he names his lineup later this week.
With eight props in the squad, the likelihood is Wilco Louw, Thomas du Toit, Ox Nche and Gerhard Steenekamp will feature, but Ntuthuko Mchunu and Carlu Sadie are also in the mix.
Who will play No 4 lock – Eben Etzebeth or Lood de Jager – and who’ll pack down at eighthman – Jasper Wiese, Cameron Hanekom or Evan Roos?
Is there place in the matchday-23 for young Riley Norton?
At the back
And who’ll wear the No 9 jersey – Grant Williams, Cobus Reinach or the in-form Embrose Papier?
With Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu injured, it’ll be interesting to see who Erasmus backs this week – Manie Libbok or Handre Pollard, or could he surprise by going with Quan Horn?
If Andre Esterhuizen is picked on the bench as a hybrid option then the centres will be Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel, though Canan Moodie might get a look in.
Kolbe and Kurt-Lee Arendse should be the wings, while Damian Willemse has the inside lane to be fullback this week.
The composition of the bench will also make for interesting reading and will it be a 5-3, 6-2 or 7-1 split between forwards and backs?
Springbok squad
Props: Thomas du Toit, Wilco Louw, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Ox Nche, Zachary Porthen, Carlu Sadie, Gerhard Steenekamp, Boan Venter
Hookers: Johan Grobbelaar, Malcolm Marx, Andre-Hugo Venter
Locks: Lood de Jager, Eben Etzebeth, Ruan Nortje, Ruben van Heerden
Loose forwards: Paul de Villiers, Ben-Jason Dixon, Cameron Hanekom, Siya Kolisi, Evan Roos, Vincent Tshituka, Jasper Wiese
Utility forwards: Pieter-Steph du Toit, Franco Mostert, Riley Norton, Marco van Staden, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Cobus Wiese
Scrumhalves: Embrose Papier, Herschel Jantjies, Cobus Reinach, Grant Williams
Flyhalves: Manie Libbok, Vusi Moyo, Handre Pollard
Centres: Damian de Allende, Andre Esterhuizen, Jesse Kriel
Outside and utility backs: Kurt-Lee Arendse, Aphelele Fassi, Quan Horn, Cheslin Kolbe, Canan Moodie, Edwill van der Merwe, Jaco Williams, Damian Willemse