The news that three key Springboks are in doubt for the Springboks’ opening Rugby Championship matches gives Saturday’s Test match against Portugal greater significance for some of the fringe players.
Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus confirmed that lock Franco Mostert, hooker Malcolm Marx, and flank Pieter-Steph du Toit are in a race against time to be fit for the Rugby Championship openers against the Wallabies in Australia on August 10 and August 17.
The trio got injured in the Springboks’ defeat at the hands of Ireland at Durban’s Hollywoodbets Kings Park Stadium on Saturday. Mostert suffered a broken leg, while Marx has a tibia fracture issue. Erasmus, though, was coy about Du Toit’s injury.
"Franco will be out for six weeks as he broke his leg," Erasmus said. "Malcolm has a little bit of a tibia fracture when he got injured and he's also out.
"Pieter-Steph is also out for four-to-six weeks and it looks like most will be ready for the second week of the Australian leg of the Rugby Championship."
Erasmus made wholesale changes for the Test against Portugal, with the Springboks playing an entirely new pack against Portugal, who stunned a lot of people at the 2023 Rugby World Cup with a victory over Fiji and a draw against Georgia.
And now, with some of the top players out for between four and six weeks, there could be places up for grabs for the two matches against the Wallabies.
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At hooker, Johan Grobbelaar will want to make the best of his debut when he starts in the No 2 jersey. The Bulls man have had to be patient, but the door is open for him to make an impact along with Andre-Hugo Venter - the son of former Bok flank, Andre, - who will start on the bench.
RG Snyman will start in the No 5 after being used an effective impact lock for the Springboks for the longest time as part of the ‘bomb squad’. But now he could have a different role as a starter heading into the Rugby Championship with Mostert set to be on the sidelines for a while.
The back row, however, is where places will be hotly contested, with Ben-Jason Dixon, Evan Roos and Elrigh Louw auditioning for Du Toit’s No 7 jersey.
Erasmus hinted that Dixon is probably more of a like-for-like replacement that Du Toit because of his work-rate. Like Du Toit, the Stormers man is also a tackling machine, but the powerful Roos, who is starting at No 8 against Portugal, can also feature on the side of the scrum.
So, while Erasmus is blooding a few newbies this weekend, he will be looking closely at their performances with an eye on the Wallabies and the Rugby Championship.
Springboks to face Portugal in Bloemfontein:
15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 11 Makazole Mapimpi
13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Andre Esterhuizen , 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Cobus Reinach,
8 Evan Roos, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Phepsi Buthelezi,
5 RG Snyman, 4 Salmaan Moerat, 3 Thomas du Toit,
2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Jan-Hendrik Wessels.
Replacements: 16 Andre-Hugo Venter, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Trevor Nyakane, 19 Ruan Venter, 20 Elrigh Louw, 21 Morne van den Berg, 22 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 23 Quan Horn.
@JohnGoliath82