Cheslin Kolbe and Lukhanyo Am included in 39-man South Africa squad for upcoming Ireland games

Two uncapped players have been included in the squad, Bulls hooker Johan Grobbelaar and front rower Jan-Hendrik Wessels.

Tue, 25 Jun, 2024 - 11:30

Fiona Halligan

South Africa Coach Rassie Erasmus has named a 39-man squad for their upcoming Summer Series games against Ireland, Portugal and Wales. Erasmus has an additional 14 player on a standby list for the series.

Two uncapped players have been included in the squad, Bulls hooker Johan Grobbelaar and front rower Jan-Hendrik Wessels. Cheslin Kolbe and Lykhanyo Am have recovered from injury and join the squad.

Handre Pollard and Jasper Wiese, who were ineligible for selection against Wales due to it falling outside the international window, have been named in the squad. Wiese will be free to play once his suspension from a dangerous tackle is completed.

World Cup winning captain Siya Kolisi and RG Snyman both join the squad following their club commitments as well as Marco van Staden, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Willie le Roux who all finish their club seasons following their URC final loss to Glasgow Warriors.

Faf de Klerk (quadriceps), Edwill van der Merwe (shoulder) and Makazole Mapimpi (hamstring) all picked up niggles during their test game against Wales.

Steven Kitshoff (prop), Jean Kleyn, Lood de Jager (both locks), Cameron Hanekom (flanker), Jaden Hendrikse (scrumhalf), Henco van Wyk (centre), Canan Moodie and Damian Willemse (both utility backs) have all been ruled out due to injury.

Erasmus is looking forward to the upcoming summer games.

“We named the best squad available for the Castle Incoming Series, and with squad depth being one of our key pillars as we build toward to the 2027 Rugby World Cup and the Test against Portugal, we thought it would be beneficial to us to name a standby squad with a few players who will join us at training sporadically in the next few weeks.

“Unfortunately, a handful of players are carrying injuries and were ruled out of the selection mix, but our plan to build depth in the last few years and expose players to Test rugby in the build-up to the 2023 RWC and against Wales last weekend certainly paid off.

“It’s great to have the overseas-based and Vodacom Bulls players back in the mix and with many of them being Rugby World Cup-winners, they will bring experience and calm heads to the team.

“Over and above that, some of the young players who were part of our travelling squad to London really impressed us over the last two weeks, and while some of them have been included in this group, we were limited in terms of the number of players we could pick, so there will always be a few unlucky players.”

“We have a jam-packed three weeks lined up with training and the Ireland Test Series, and we’ll look at bringing in the standby players intermittently within the next few weeks to train with us and continue to familiarise themselves with our systems, especially with an eye on the Portugal Test.

“This year marks the start of building toward to the 2027 Rugby World Cup, so we would like to continue exposing players to international rugby with an eye on that objective.”

The 39-man squad gathers in Pretoria on Tuesday, a day later than expected due to their flight from London being cancelled on Sunday night.

Springbok squad for Castle Lager Incoming Series

Forwards:

Phepsi Buthelezi (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Ben-Jason Dixon (DHL Stormers), Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz), Thomas du Toit (Bath), Eben Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks). Johan Grobbelaar (Vodacom Bulls), Vincent Koch (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Siya Kolisi (Racing 92), Frans Malherbe (DHL Stormers), Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears), Bongi Mbonambi (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Salmaan Moerat (DHL Stormers), Franco Mostert (Honda Heat), Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Trevor Nyakane (Racing 92/Hollywoodbets Sharks), Evan Roos (DHL Stormers), Kwagga Smith (Blu Revs), RG Snyman (Munster/Leinster), Gerhard Steenekamp (Vodacom Bulls), Marco van Staden (Vodacom Bulls), Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Vodacom Bulls), Jasper Wiese (Leicester Tigers).

Backs:

Lukhanyo Am (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Kurt-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls), Damian de Allende (Wild Knights), Faf de Klerk (Canon Eagles), Andre Esterhuizen (Harlequins/Hollywoodbets Sharks), Aphelele Fassi (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (DHL Stormers), Cheslin Kolbe (Suntory Sungoliath), Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles), Wilie le Roux (Vodacom Bulls), Manie Libbok (DHL Stormers), Makazole Mapimpi (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Handre Pollard (Leicester Tigers), Cobus Reinach (Montpellier), Morne van den Berg (Emirates Lions), Edwill van der Merwe (Emirates Lions), Grant Williams (Hollywoodbets Sharks).

Players on standby:

Forwards: Jean-Luc du Preez (Sale Sharks), Joseph Dweba, Neethling Fouche (both DHL Stormers), Celimpilo Gumede, Elrigh Louw, Wilco Louw (all Vodacom Bulls), Ntuthuko Mchunu (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Ruben van Heerden (DHL Stormers), Andre-Hugo Venter (DHL Stormers).

Backs: Suleiman Hartzenberg (DHL Stormers), Jordan Hendrikse (Emirates Lions), Ethan Hooker (Hollywoodbets Sharks), Quan Horn (Emirates Lions), Siya Masuku (Hollywoodbets Sharks).

Springbok fixtures

Saturday, 22 June: SA vs Wales (Twickenham, London)

Saturday, 6 July: SA vs Ireland (Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria)

Saturday, 13 July: SA vs Ireland (Hollywoodbets Kings Park, Durban)

Saturday, 20 July: SA vs Portugal (Toyota Stadium, Bloemfontein)

Saturday, 10 August: Australia vs SA (Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane)

Saturday, 17 August: Australia vs SA (Optus Stadium, Perth)

Saturday, 31 August: SA vs New Zealand (Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg)

Saturday, 7 September: SA v New Zealand (DHL Stadium, Cape Town)

Saturday, 21 September: Argentina v SA (Estadio Unico Madre Ciudades, Santiago)

Saturday, 28 September: SA v Argentina (Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit)

Sunday, 10 November: Scotland vs SA (Murrayfield, Edinburgh)