Siya Kolisi to lead formidable 33-man Springbok Rugby Championship squad

Twenty-two of the 33 players are Rugby World Cup winners, while five 2024 debutants are included in the squad in Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Johan Grobbelaar, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Ben-Jason Dixon and Morne van den Berg.

The only newcomer to the group is lock Ruan Nortje, who made his Springbok debut against Wales in 2022 and represented the SA 'A' side in November that year. All the other players featured in the team's opening four Tests of the season against Wales at Twickenham or during the recent Incoming Series against Ireland and Portugal.

Among the players not considered for selection due to injury or rehab were Jean Kleyn, Lood de Jager, Franco Mostert, Steven Kitshoff, Faf de Klerk, Jaden Hendrikse, Herschel Jantjies, Canan Moodie, Edwill van der Merwe and Damian Willemse. Jasper Wiese is suspended, and Andre Esterhuizen awaits a disciplinary hearing after being sent off in the 64-21 win over Portugal on Saturday.

However, there was good news for Malcolm Marx, who made the cut despite his recent injury, which turned out not to be as serious as originally feared.

"This is a quality group of players, which includes a mixture of youth and experience, and we believe this is the best group of players we could select for this tough assignment in the Rugby Championship," said Erasmus.

"We rested some players before the match against Portugal to recharge for this competition and we are excited to see the energy they'll bring back to the squad. We've also included a few younger players who made a strong statement in the Tests we played so far this season.

"The injury to Franco Mostert opened the door for Ruan Nortje to make his comeback to the national team, and he brings a different type of experience as the captain of the Vodacom Bulls."

Erasmus lauded the younger players in the group for the strong statement they made this season, and he looked forward to seeing what they had to offer in what will be a vastly different challenge against Australia, New Zealand, and Argentina.

"We were very impressed with the likes of Salmaan Moerat (who became the 66th Springbok captain against Portugal), Dixon, Grobbelaar, Wessels and Feinberg-Mngomezulu when they received a chance to play this season," said Erasmus.

"While this may be a very different challenge to facing Wales, Ireland and Portugal, we have full faith in the players to make another big step up against the southern hemisphere teams, who play a different type of rugby to the sides we've faced up to now.

"As always there are a number of unlucky players, but we could only select a squad of 33 to travel to Australia. The players excluded from the squad will be available for selection for their respective clubs, but we explained to them before we departed Bloemfontein that this squad is not necessarily the same group that will be selected for the matches against New Zealand and Argentina, so they have been put on specialised conditioning programmes to ensure they are ready should they get the call-up."

The Bok coach expected a challenging Rugby Championship and said: "We faced New Zealand in the Rugby World Cup final and won by a point, and we all know how tough the competition and rivalry is between the teams.

"Australia are also a quality team, and we've seen historically that are a force to be reckoned at home, while Argentina are a physical and competitive team and always push us to the limit, so we are under no illusions about what lies ahead.

"But we're also excited to launch this new edition of the tournament and test ourselves against the southern hemisphere sides once again."

Springbok squad for Rugby Championship

Forwards: Ben-Jason Dixon, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Thomas du Toit, Eben Etzebeth, Johan Grobbelaar, Vincent Koch, Siya Kolisi (captain), Elrigh Louw, Frans Malherbe, Malcolm Marx, Bongi Mbonambi, Salmaan Moerat, Ox Nche, Ruan Nortje, Kwagga Smith, RG Snyman, Gerhard Steenekamp, Marco van Staden, Jan-Hendrik Wessels.

Backs: Lukhanyo Am, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Damian de Allende, Aphelele Fassi, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Cheslin Kolbe, Jesse Kriel, Willie le Roux, Makazole Mapimpi, Manie Libbok, Handre Pollard, Cobus Reinach, Morne van den Berg, Grant Williams.