Rassie Erasmus has confirmed he will release Springboks to their franchises for the provincial matches against the touring All Blacks, and in doing so has turned what look like warm-up fixtures into something closer to a live selection trial.
Speaking to media in Johannesburg on Tuesday, the Springbok head coach set out the logic behind a squad that will be reshaped once his players return from Buenos Aires, where South Africa face Argentina on 8 August.
"The big thing is we don't want to keep a guy with us and not use him during the All Black series," Erasmus said. "That's why we're giving some guys the opportunity to play for their franchises."
The Rugby's Greatest Rivalry series opens on 7 August when the All Blacks meet the Stormers in Cape Town, the first of an eight-match itinerary. Three further provincial fixtures follow before four Tests on consecutive weekends, starting at Ellis Park on 22 August.
Erasmus was careful to frame the releases as squad management rather than an open door.
"Taking players on tour without being able to give him a game for his franchise against the All Blacks would not be the right thing, but we also don't want to release players if we're not 100 percent sure we're covered in those positions for the All Black Tests," he said. "So as far as we can release players without jeopardising squad depth, we'll try to do so. We might also still release more players from the group if they don't get enough game time in the Springbok Tests."
Writing in the Daily Maverick, Craig Ray argued that the practical effect is an open trial, and that the All Blacks' provincial fixtures are now considerably more than tune-ups for the tourists. Erasmus name-checked Bulls scrum-half Embrose Papier and Sharks fly-half Vusi Moyo as players who could push back into Test contention on the strength of those matches. Papier will not travel to Argentina; he will instead line up for the Bulls against the All Blacks on 15 August.
"Embrose is a classic example," Erasmus said. "We have to give game time to Krappies [Morne van den Berg] and Cobus Reinach, so the two of them will go on tour to Argentina. If we took Embrose on tour as well, and he doesn't play he won't have the opportunity to train with the Bulls as they prepare to play against the All Blacks."
Herschel Jantjies, who has no club commitments, will tour.
On the injury front, Erasmus reported a near-clean bill of health after a spell in which much of his senior spine was unavailable. Prop Ox Nche and lock Franco Mostert are the only long-term absentees, with Ntuthuko Mchunu recalled from the Stormers as cover. Eben Etzebeth, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Lood de Jager, Siya Kolisi, Ethan Hooker, Canan Moodie and Andre Esterhuizen are all fit.
He did not pretend the timing was tidy.
"I wouldn't say it is ideal," Erasmus said of so many players returning from injury at once. "We would have liked the guys not to be injured and to have been able to manage their time right from the start."
The Argentina fixture, he insisted, is not a rehearsal, though he conceded it will function as one.
"Argentina are a quality team, and you'll quickly see who is ready to play against New Zealand two weeks later," he said. "That said, this match wasn't planned with that reason in mind - it was always about honouring our relationship with Argentina."
Asked about Dave Rennie's 44-man All Blacks touring squad, named last week, Erasmus admitted he had barely looked at it.
"I saw the squad was announced and had a brief look at it, but at this stage we're all locked in for Argentina," he said. "There'll be a group that stays behind and starts focusing on them, because we can only take a certain number of players to Argentina. But in all honesty, I haven't studied it enough. That said, it sounds like everybody's really excited about the squad and the way they've played in the first three games, and we know it's going to be tough, but Argentina is our first goal right now."
SA Rugby confirmed the official series squad will be finalised once the team returns from South America.
