Erasmus keeps faith with Springbok squad after record All Blacks win
Erasmus keeps faith with Springbok squad after record All Blacks win
South Africa coach Rassie Erasmus said on Wednesday he was keeping faith with the squad of players who inflicted a record defeat on New Zealand ahead of the Springboks' Rugby Championship double-header with Argentina.
South Africa romped to a stunning 43-10 thrashing of the All Blacks in Wellington on Saturday, running in five unanswered tries in a dominant second-half showing after trailing 10-7 at the break.
"This group of players have been together for over 13 weeks now, and they've shown that they are the right players for this big task against the Pumas," said Erasmus in a Springboks statement.
The main changes to his 33-man squad for the matches in Durban and London are due to injuries suffered by lock Lood de Jager, back-rower Jean-Luc du Preez and full-back Aphelele Fassi.
South Africa are hoping to retain the Rugby Championship title which they won last season for the first time in five years.
They trail leaders Australia by a single point but all four sides have won two and lost two so far, with only bonus points separating them.
The Boks are ahead of New Zealand on match points difference with the Pumas a competition point behind that.
"We've chopped and changed our squad a fair bit this season, playing a total of 46 players in our last eight matches," said Erasmus.
"And by training together almost daily, we are confident that these are the players who can give us the best shot to try to retain the title."
Erasmus has picked 18 forwards and 15 backs in his set-up
South Africa squad
Forwards
Pieter-Steph du Toit, Thomas du Toit, Eben Etzebeth, Vincent Koch, Siya Kolisi, Wilco Louw, Malcolm Marx, Bongi Mbonambi, Franco Mostert, Ox Nche, Ruan Nortje, Kwagga Smith, RG Snyman, Marnus van der Merwe, Marco van Staden, Boan Venter, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Jasper Wiese
Backs
Damian de Allende, Faf de Klerk, Andre Esterhuizen, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Ethan Hooker, Cheslin Kolbe, Jesse Kriel, Manie Libbok, Makazole Mapimpi, Canan Moodie, Handre Pollard, Cobus Reinach, Morne van den Berg, Damian Willemse, Grant Williams
bur-bc/iwd
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