Springbok youngster to be sent home?

As many as six uncapped players were named in a 37-man Springbok squad for the second leg of the Nations Championship in November, which kicks off this Saturday against Italy.

For the opening match, Rassie Erasmus opted against handing out any debuts as he rather wants the youngsters to have some time to integrate into the squad, and to learn more about the Springbok set up from senior players.

One newcomer many fans are extremely excited about is talented flyhalf Yaqeen Ahmed, who has made a sensational start to the season for the Stormers, having previously also made a massive impression for the Junior Springboks.

However, it now appears that the 20-year-old may have his tour cut short due to a shoulder injury.

“He was honest with me and told me he had a sore shoulder,” Erasmus commented during Monday’s team announcement. “Normally new players would try and hide an injury a bit, but he was nice and honest.

“It doesn’t help for players just to watch the guys training, we want them to participate. If we need somebody and he can’t play, we’ll make the call whether he has to return to South Africa.

“It looks like he’ll have to go back home and go for a scan or two, but we’ll make that call (on Tuesday).”

Springboks lay out clear plans for NOVEMBER tour

Although some pundits thought this Saturday’s clash against Italy would present the best opportunity to expose one or two debutants to Test rugby, Erasmus said there was another plan in place.

“They (the uncapped players) all joined us in camp today and are excited about the tour ahead, so we’ll expose them to our structures this week and monitor how they progress and hopefully we’ll be able to give them a chance to show what they can do at this level against top opposition in the next few weeks,” Erasmus explained.

“They are special players, who all bring something different to the team, and we have full faith in their talent and skillsets.”

This Saturday’s clash against Italy will kick off at 13:40.

How the team will line up in Turin

SPRINGBOKS – 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Ethan Hooker, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Morné van den Berg, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Ruan Nortjé, 4 Salmaan Moerat, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nché.
Subs: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Lood de Jager, 20 Cameron Hanekom, 21 Paul de Villiers, 22 Grant Williams, 23 Manie Libbok.