Rassie Erasmus says the Springbok teams for their upcoming two Tests against Italy, starting with next Saturday’s clash in Pretoria, have already been largely finalised, reports DEVIN HERMANUS.
The Boks launched their 2025 campaign with a 54-7 win over the Barbarians at Cape Town Stadium on Saturday night, with debutant Vincent Tshituka’s brace in the eight-try rout highlighting a dominant display from the world champions.
However, Erasmus insisted the performance wouldn’t dramatically alter his selection plans for next weekend. The Boks face Italy at Loftus before hosting the Azzurri again in Gqeberha on 12 July, with Georgia visiting Nelspruit a week later.
“The guys will know tomorrow [Sunday] night who’s playing Italy 1 and 2; they’ve got a fairly good idea already,” the Bok boss said post-match in Cape Town. “The guys who played the Barbarians knew two weeks ago, so they had two weeks of training together.
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“That’s always a little bit of a caveat. If things don’t go according to plan, Italy 2 can always change. But we do know who’s the core of guys – the 14, 15, 16 of the positions. We definitely know who’s in the mix for Italy 1.”
Erasmus added: “We won’t get carried away with this performance because we have to take into account the other guys. Certainly some guys showed us that they can do it at this level, but we’ll layer them in to make sure there’s a balance.
“I think guys like Damian [de Allende], Jesse [Kriel] are a bit undercooked. Kurt-Lee [Arendse] hasn’t really played in a lot of matches either in Japan or didn’t come back to the Bulls.”
Erasmus confirmed that utility forward Pieter-Steph du Toit, who hasn’t played since November following shoulder surgery and joined the squad last week, could make his comeback in the second Italy Test at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium.
“Pieter-Steph will probably be ready for Italy 2,” he stated.
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With captain Siya Kolisi set to return from his late withdrawal due to a stiff neck, and experienced campaigners like Willie le Roux, Bongi Mbonambi, Eben Etzebeth and Handre Pollard awaiting their 2025 bows, Erasmus has enviable depth at his disposal.
“We’ll try to strike a balance so that when we’re done with Georgia, we’ve got a group of 45, 50 that got some game time,” he said.
Meanwhile, Lood de Jager’s efforts on Saturday were encouraging, the veteran lock marking his Bok return with a try. “The condition that he had was almost career ending, but when we did the fitness testing three weeks ago, he was exceptional,” Erasmus said.
“His body might be 32 or 33, but he has had some two or three years ‘rest’ in the last couple of years, and I think that showed. I also thought Jean Kleyn went deep into the game very well. We’re very glad Lood came through it, and we have some nice depth at lock now.”
He’s also optimistic about the team’s attacking potential on the Highveld: “Some of the half gaps and line breaks we made would have stuck if the weather had been drier [in Cape Town]. We can’t wait to play on a dry pitch and improve on our attack.”
Photo: Grant Pitcher/Gallo Images
