Coach Rassie reduces Bok squad for Portugal Test

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus released 16 players from camp on Wednesday to allow them a 10-day break before the Rugby Championship squad assembles in Johannesburg next week. 

Players released are 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, Handré Pollard and Jesse Kriel. 

Prop Ox Nche and utility back Grant Williams will provide cover for the 23-man squad named for the historic clash against Portugal at Free State Stadium in Bloemfontein on Saturday.

This means the squad has been reduced from 41 to 25 players for the Test.

“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,” said Erasmus.

“The players have Thursday off and we only have the captain’s run left on Friday before the match, so it makes sense to give the players not involved in the match some time off.” 

With demanding clashes against Australia, New Zealand and Argentina next month, Erasmus said they were managing players’ workloads.

“We are playing back-to-back Test matches against the Wallabies in Australia next month, then we face New Zealand on successive weekends in SA. 

“That will be 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.” 

On the decision to retain only two players as injury cover in the squad, Erasmus said: “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, [we] believe this is the best decision for the team.”