Surprises expected as Rassie names squad

When he was asked why his team would spend the week before their departure for the Rugby World Cup in Bloemfontein, Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus said it was because there was only one newspaper in the city.

While he said this jokingly, it would appear there was a grain of truth in it as a source close to the team claimed that the players who turned up for Monday to Wednesday’s training and team-building numbered 31, as opposed to the 32 the media thought were in attendance.

Ever since SA Rugby put out a press statement saying that Lizo Gqoboka, Marvin Orie, André Esterhuizen and Thomas du Toit had been released to play in the Currie Cup this weekend – with Marcell Coetzee ruled out by injury – speculation has been rife that the fight for the remaining spot in the World Cup squad is between flankers Kwagga Smith and Rynhardt Elstadt.

But, according to our source, the latter didn’t join the team in Bloemfontein, meaning Smith is in the team and that Warrick Gelant slots in as the second full back.

Should that be the correct information, the Boks will have five props and a 17-14 split in favour of forwards at the World Cup.

Despite being called up from Toulouse as an open-side flanker, Elstadt would have been the indefatigable Pieter-Steph du Toit’s understudy on the blindside, a role that now seems earmarked for workaholic lock Franco Mostert and number eight Duane Vermeulen.

Smith will now join captain Siya Kolisi and Francois Louw as open side flankers who can also cover Vermeulen at eighth man.

Among the backs, centre Frans Steyn and Gelant are probably the luckier of the backs in the squad, owing to only showing flashes of what they’re capable of instead of barging the selectors’ door down.

But where they’ll be useful will be in their ability to cover other positions – Steyn’s being fly half and Gelant’s being left wing, where World Rugby breakthrough player of the year Aphiwe Dyantyi’s hamstring injury, which has mysteriously refused to heal, has opened a vacancy behind Makazole Mapimpi.

In addition to Dyantyi, injury also ran former Springbok captain Warren Whiteley and gifted fly half/utility back Damian Willemse.

Whiteley hasn’t played a minute for the Boks owing to a knee injury that just won’t go away, while Willemse made his first start for Western Province in the Currie Cup yesterday, having come on as a replacement in their defeat to Griquas in Kimberley last week.

But it seems like he has timed his run a little late and can only hope to be bracketed with Dillyn Leyds as part of the backs who will be on standby duty. Speaking of which, our source said the players who would be tasked with keeping fit while the Boks campaign in Japan were prop Du Toit, hooker Scarra Ntubeni, lock Marvin Orie, Elstadt, centre Esterhuizen and utility back Leyds (full back and wing).

Erasmus’ squad for Japan will be announced live on SuperSport at 3pm tomorrow, and they will attend a farewell dinner in Sandton in their honour before they leave on Friday for their warm-up game against the hosts a week later.