GAVIN RICH: Alignment camps not the same as Bok squad announcements

Maybe people make too much of a fuss about every announcement of the group invited to attend Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus’ national alignment camps.

Calling up players to be part of a series of meetings with on-field activity kept to a minimum or completely nonexistent at some of the camps, is not the same as the Springbok squad announcements that take place ahead of the international season, the Rugby Championship or an overseas tour.

The players aren’t capped and there are many who have gone through those camps who haven’t come near a Bok squad, let alone a Bok team. For instance, how many people out there are familiar with the name Sampie Swiegers?

No disrespect to Swiegers, and if you follow the Varsity Cup closely you will know of him, but the prop that led Pukke to victory in that competition in 2023 was someone the media made a fuss over when Rassie invited him to an alignment camp last year.

But he never featured for the Boks, and none of the big franchises picked him up either. He is at the Pumas. So it is understandable if Stormers coach John Dobson, criticised by some for letting Rassie’s latest left-field selection from the Varsity Cup, the Ikey Tigers wing Ntokozo Makhaza, go to the Cheetahs, isn’t losing any sleep over it.

There’s a temptation to suggest the Bok coach gets enjoyment out of appearing left field, but it’s more likely he’s just being strategic by drawing attention to the role of the Varsity Cup as a feeder competition and incentivising players who play in there to feel they have a chance.

His inclusion of Northampton Saints No 8 Juarno Augustus and the Scarlets’ SA hooker Marnus van der Merwe over players who have played for the Boks and have excelled for local teams in the URC, Evan Roos of the Stormers in Augustus’ case and Johan Grobbelaar of the Bulls in Van der Merwe’s, might also not be something to make a fuss about.

It could be that Erasmus is limited by costs to a limited number of places at each camp so he rotates the invitees according to where he wants to increase his depth.

There’s a history of players being excluded from a specific alignment camp but then being in the Bok squad, and maybe that will be the case with Roos and Grobbelaar, who Erasmus might feel can sit out this time because they’ve been exposed already to his systems and will catch up again when the Boks assemble in June.

Hopefully that’s not wishful thinking, for both selections (inclusions might be the better word as they are not being called up to play) work against the problem highlighted in last week’s column and which Bulls coach Jake White is vocal about — the need for the national body to do more to make it attractive for top players to stay local.

If Roos or Grobbelaar are considering heading overseas when their contracts with their franchises expire, what kind of message does losing out to two overseas-based players send to them?

Perhaps when there is a special case of an uncapped player being courted by another nation it would be understandable, but Augustus has played for the Junior Boks.

Players who have already done their bit for the Boks are a separate issue, but how many players who played their first games for the Boks while based overseas have made it big at international level? I can only think of Jasper Wiese, who is expendable given the number of quality No 8s playing in the country.

You can’t blame Erasmus if his motive is to promote depth by familiarising as many potential stars as possible with his systems, but the decision should be taken away from him.  It should be SA Rugby policy that uncapped overseas-based players are ineligible for Bok selection.