Erasmus expected to reward form of SA’s young guns

SPRINGBOK coach Rassie Erasmus will be casting an eye to the future when he names the players he wants at his first alignment camp of the season.

For the first time since he took over the Boks in 2018, Erasmus has a full four-year block in which to evolve the Boks before a World Cup.

The former Bok flank desperately wants to nail a three-peat of World Cup wins when the tournament is held by Australia in 2027 and for that purpose, his first camp will involve players under the age of

23.

According to reports, Erasmus will be rewarding the form of South Africa’s Young Turks of the current United Rugby Championship, the likes of Bulls loose forward Cameron Hanekom, 21, and the dashing Stormers hooker Andre-Hugo Venter,

22.

Likely to join that duo are Springboks of the future Ruan Venter, 21, Jordan Hendrikse, 22, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 22, Mpilo Gumede, 23, Quan Horn, 22, and Henco van Wyk,

22.

The Lions’ playmaker pair of Sanele Nohamba and Morne van den Berg are due for a return to the Springbok environment, as well as Bulls hooker Johan Grobbelaar.

As is always the case with the call-up to a Springbok camp, there will be notable exclusions.

Those reportedly include Hacjivah Dayimani, Joseph Dweba, and Aphelele Fassi.

Much was expected of Fassi when he was picked for the Boks’ Test against Wales in Bloemfontein in 2022 but defensive frailties have cost him dearly.

Dweba was the third-choice hooker for the Boks leading up to the last World Cup but he was not called up when Malcolm Marx was injured.

The hooker cover went to Deon Fourie and Marco van Staden and it would appear that Dweba has fallen further down the pecking order because of the dynamic performances of Venter, the son of Bok legend Andre.