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SA Rugby director of rugby, Rassie Erasmus, says the draft selection exercise was a refreshing way to select the team for next weekend’s Springbok Showdown.
A series of Springboks, Blitzboks and Junior Boks made the cut in two 25-man squads after an exciting live draft pick, the first of its kind in South African rugby history, for the Springbok Showdown in Cape Town on Saturday. October 3.
The two squads feature 13 members of last year’s Rugby World Cup winning squad in Japan, as well as some exciting young players who will rub shoulders with set internationals for the highly anticipated clash in Newlands next Saturday at 5pm.
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Rassie Erasmus, SA Rugby’s director of rugby, and Jacques Nienaber, Springbok’s new head coach, selected the two 25-man teams on Friday night during a live draw at SuperSport Studios in Johannesburg.
Erasmus is the team commissioner for the Green squad, which will be coached by Mzwandile Stick, while Nienaber (team commissioner) and Deon Davids (coach) will be in charge of the Gold squad.
The 50 players who made the cut after the draft picks were selected from the 93 starting players introduced last week. The two teams and management members will meet in Cape Town on Sunday 27 September, where they will begin their preparations for match day separately in their respective “bio-bubble environments”.
The players, all based in South Africa, were selected and grouped into two squads of 25 each by the respective team commissioners and coaches during the live television broadcast.
“The draft selection exercise was a refreshing way to select the two teams for the game,” Erasmus explained.
“ Me, Jacques and the coaches really enjoyed the exercise, but the stress of choosing squads on live TV was not good for the nerves, I want to thank SuperSport for their support on this project and I hope our fans enjoyed something new in the South African Rugby Landscape ‘.
Erasmus added that the Springbok brains trust seized the unique opportunity to launch the very wide net to compile the original list of 93, and then narrow it down to 50 on Friday night.
The expanded player pool was identified during Vodacom Super Rugby and PRO14 action earlier in the year, and last year’s Currie Cup, while the youngest players on the roster have been part of the Elite Player Development program ( EPD) from SA Rugby for the past few years. .
Several players who are currently injured were not considered for the match, including World Rugby and SA Rugby Player of the Year Pieter-Steph du Toit (Stormers, forward loose), as well as RWC winner Sbu Nkosi (Sharks, wing ), Aphelele Fassi (Sharks, fullback) and Lizo Gqoboka (Vodacom Bulls, prop).
Erasmus said the players were selected from a very dynamic draft list and thanked the franchise teams for their collaboration throughout the identification, monitoring and writing process.
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Photo: Johan Rynners / Gallo Images
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