Springbok boss Rassie Erasmus says the world champions won’t be trimming their squad ahead of the four-Test Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series.
The Boks recorded a 12th successive victory with a battling 17-10 win over Los Pumas in Buenos Aires on Saturday, with skipper Siya Kolisi, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Eben Etzebeth, Lood de Jager and Morné van den Berg shaking off the rust after months out.
A converted try from Cameron Hanekom, added to Edwill van der Merwe’s earlier score, proved decisive, while the Boks survived 15 phases deep in their own 22 in the dying stages to seal victory.
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The squad now returns to South Africa in two groups on Sunday and Monday, before reuniting with the 15 players who stayed behind to begin preparations for the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series against the All Blacks, which kicks off at Ellis Park on 22 August.
“We’re not going to trim the squad,” Erasmus explained post-match from Argentina. “Fifteen guys there, 26 guys here. What’s that? Forty-one.
“The team selection on choosing the right team for the first Test matches over two weeks … We’ve got obviously 15 guys at home who are already prepared for that.
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“Not saying that they’re definitely going to start or be in a match 23. We just had to get a lot of players on this side through some match fitness.
“Now the next two weeks we’ll have to look at our injuries, and then we’ll pick the team that we hope can try and beat New Zealand in the first Test match.
“We’ll rather put more guys back in and also put the numbers up to 44. I think New Zealand are doing 44. Nobody has to get cut.”
Photo: Juan Jose Gasparini/Gallo Images
