Kolisi leads 33-man Springbok squad named for Rugby Championship

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 Rugby Championship," said Erasmus.

"We rested some players before the match against Portugal to recharge for this competition and we are excited to see the energy they'll bring back to the squad. We've also included a few younger players who made a strong statement in the Tests we played so far this season.

"The injury