Sport | Kolisi leads 33-man Springbok squad named for Rugby Championship

Bok captain Siya Kolisi. (Steve Haag Sports/Gallo Images)

• Siya Kolisi remains Springbok captain for the upcoming Rugby Championship.
• Bok coach Rassie Erasmus on Thursday named a 33-man squad for the southern hemisphere showpiece.
• The Boks will open their campaign with two away Tests in Australia on 10 and 17 August.
• For more news on the Springboks, visit our dedicated page.

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus on Tuesday named a 33-man squad for the upcoming Rugby Championship.

Flanker Siya Kolisi remains the captain in a squad that features 22 Rugby World Cup winners. Five players who made their Test debuts in 2024 – Jan-Hendrik Wessels (utility forward), Johan Grobbelaar (hooker), Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (utility back), Ben-Jason Dixon (utility forward) and Morne van den Berg (scrumhalf) – are also included.

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The only newcomer to the group is Bulls captain Ruan Nortje (lock), 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 South Africa’s first four Tests of the year.

Players not considered for selection due to injury or rehabilitation include Jean Kleyn, Lood de Jager and Franco Mostert (all locks), Steven Kitshoff (prop), Faf de Klerk, Jaden Hendrikse, Herschel Jantjies (scrumhalves), Canan Moodie, (centre), Edwill van der Merwe (wing) and Damian Willemse (utility back).

Jasper Wiese (No 8) is still serving a suspension, while Andre Esterhuizen (centre) awaits a disciplinary hearing after being sent off in the 64-21 win over Portugal on Saturday.

“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