Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus has delayed his team announcement for South Africa’s first game of the November internationals against Scotland.
In the past, the Springboks have shown their hand early, traditionally naming their team on Tuesday before a Test match.
However, that is not the case this week, as the Bok boss will only name his team to face Scotland on Friday – this after SA Rugby initially slated the announcement on Thursday.
The Springboks head into the clash at Murrayfield on Sunday with several key positions still up in the air due to depth and injuries.
In fact, Erasmus will need to make key decisions at prop, lock, scrum-half, fly-half, full-back and possibly number eight – positions that have been relatively easy to predict in previous seasons but not this November.
Springboks’ selection headaches
Ox Nche is likely to be the starting loosehead prop but the Springboks are without regular starting tighthead prop Frans Malherbe who misses the tour after sustaining an injury while playing for the Stormers in the URC.
Malherbe’s absence is a hammer blow but Erasmus and scrum coach Daan Human are not short on quality replacements with Thomas du Toit, Wilco Louw and Vincent Koch primed to fill the two tighthead roles.
Louw hasn’t played any Test rugby since 2021 but has been in fine nick for the Bulls since returning to South Africa after a successful stint in England with Harlequins. Meanwhile, Du Toit has started four Tests this year when the Springboks have rotated the squad and Koch has been a mainstay on the bench with just one of his nine appearances this year coming in the starting XV – his 50th cap against Wales at Twickenham.
Eben Etzebeth is likely to fill the number four jumper but his locking partner could be any of Ruan Nortje, Franco Mostert or RG Snyman. Nortje shone in the absence of the latter pair during the Rugby Championship and was reportedly set to start against the Scots due to Mostert’s lack of game time since breaking his leg against Ireland. Meanwhile, Snyman has been in stellar form on his return from injury shining for Leinster in the URC. Again, there isn’t really a wrong answer for Erasmus who is spoilt for choice in the second row after somewhat of a crisis in the role earlier this year.
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Perhaps the least contentious position is the number eight role with Jasper Wiese likely to pack down at the back of the scrum. However, Erasmus could throw a spanner in the works with the Bulls powerhouse pair of Elrigh Louw and Cameron Hanekom also in the squad. Louw has shone for the Boks this year during the Rugby Championship, particularly in his role off the bench while Hanekom has been sensational for the Bulls in the URC and could make his Test debut at Murrayfield.
Onto the halfbacks which is arguably the most difficult positions to predict as Erasmus has used five different number nines this year and eight different combinations. Faf de Klerk has been overlooked for the November internationals but the Boks have plenty of quality options in Grant Williams, Cobus Reinach and Jaden Hendrikse while at fly-half he has Manie Libbok, Handre Pollard and possibly Jordan Hendrikse.
Jaden Hendrikse and Libbok started the Boks’ final Rugby Championship match with Reinach and Pollard starting the week before. However, Williams’ return adds another dimension as he was used regularly off the bench at the beginning of the year but impressed in his first start against the All Blacks in Cape Town.
Finally, the full-back selection could be the biggest indication as to how the Springboks will look to continue their unbeaten run of eight straight games against Scotland with Willie Le Roux and Aphelele Fassi the options to fill the number 15 jumper. Le Roux brings more of a creative playmaking approach to the role while Fassi provides a strike running option.
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It’s highly likely that Erasmus has already made all of these decisions and has named the squad internally ahead of the clash at Murrayfield but all the permutations will be keeping opposing head coach Gregor Townsend on the edge of his seat.
As for the Scots, they were without the likes of Finn Russell and Blair Kinghorn last week against Fiji but both players are primed to returning to the starting XV for the clash against the world champions.
However, they will be without the services of pocket rocket speedster Darcy Graham who crossed for four tries against the Fijians after the winger sustained a concussion in the latter stages of the match.
It was Graham’s first game for Scotland since the 2023 World Cup but his absence is still a hammer blow for the side particularly when considering his insane strike rate which includes 16 tries in his last nine Tests.
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