Revealed Springboks’ 33 man squad ahead of the World Cup.
2 min readThe Springboks Head coach Jacques Nienaber on Tuesday named his 33-man squad that is set to defend the Webb Ellis Cup in France.
Boks squad includes 21 players with Rugby World Cup experience ,nine of whom will be appearing at their third Rugby World Cup.
The defending champions squad has three key players missing out due to injuries;
Lood de Jager (chest problem),Handre Pollard (calf) ,Lukhanyo Am (knee) .
However these three players have been added to the standby squad that includes six more players.
“We’ve picked a squad with a bunch of the players who can also cover alternative positions, which we’ll need in a very tough World Cup.”~Jacques Nienaber while naming his squad in Johannesburg.
“We were in a great position this year to have so many players knocking on the door for selection but unfortunately, we could only select 33.”
“Injuries have had a hand in the final selection, but they are part of the game, and we are excited about the quality of the players who can step in and perform at World Cup level as many of the players who featured against Argentina showed last weekend.” ~ Jacques Nienaber added.
33 MAN SQUAD
Forwards : Steven Kitshoff, Vincent Koch, Frans Malherbe ,Ox Nche, Trevor Nyakane ,Malcolm Marx, Bongi, Mbonambi ,Eben Etzebeth, Marvin Orie ,RG Snyman, Jean Kleyn ,Pieter-Steph du Toit, Kwagga Smith ,Siya Kolisi (captain ), Marco van Staden, Duane Vermeulen ,Franco Mostert, Jasper Wiese , Deon Fourie
Backs : Faf de Klerk ,Jaden Hendrikse ,Grant Williams, Cobus Reinach ,Manie Libbok , Damian Willemse, Jesse Kriel , Andre , Esterhuizen , Kurt-Lee Arendse ,Damian de Allende , Cheslin Kolbe , Willie le Roux , Makazole Mapimpi , Canan Moodie
STAND BY SQUAD
Lood de Jager , Lukhanyo Am , Handre Pollard , Jean-Luc du Preez, Thomas du Toit , Joseph Dweba , Gerhard Steenekamp , Herschel Jantiies , Evan Roos
South Africa’s Springboks are in pool B with Ireland, Scotland, Tonga, and Romania