Ireland facing formidable South Africa challenge despite injury losses

When it comes to squad depth, nobody has options like the Springboks.

Only France and England have more professional teams, while nobody supplies the squads of Europe and Japan with more players.

Unlike other unions, SA Rugby doesn’t restrict Rassie Erasmus when it comes to picking players based overseas.

So the world champions can weather the loss of nine pretty serious operators more than any other side in the game.

The coach unveiled the list of 39 names for the two-Test series against Ireland and a one-off game against Portugal yesterday, and it made for impressive reading.

A lesser side would view the absence of the likes of World Cup winners Steven Kitshoff, Jean Kleyn, Lood de Jager, Canan Moodie, Damian Willemse and Jasper Wiese as a crisis, especially when you add the doubts they have over Faf de Klerk, Makazole Mapimpi and new winger Edwill van der Merwe, who picked up knocks in the win over Wales.

But there’s no way you could in any way point to a weakness in the squad Erasmus has selected.

Twenty-two are based with the four South African URC sides, with Andre Esterhuizen and Trevor Nyakane relocating from Harlequins and Racing 92 this summer.

Of the remainder, eight are based in Japan, where the pace of life is a little bit more sedate, while RG Snyman is in the middle of moving from Munster to Leinster, Siya Kolisi and Cobus Reinach are in France and three more are in England.

Kolisi’s form may be a worry to Erasmus, with Racing 92 owner Jacky Lorenzetti making his unhappiness with the two-time World Cup-winning captain’s condition known publicly at the end of a disappointing first campaign under Stuart Lancaster.

Moving abroad has cost him the captaincy, and it remains to be seen who Erasmus will appoint as his long-term skipper having handed the duty to Pieter-Steph du Toit against Wales last weekend.

That victory at Twickenham was a first look at the world champions since they lost Jacques Nienaber and Felix Jones and replaced them with former Ireland hooker Jerry Flannery and New Zealand attack guru Tony Brown.

Both men will have an influence on the Springboks’ playing style but it would be foolish to expect too much of a departure from the Erasmus template from the World Cup.

Decoupling from Nienaber will have an impact. Not only was he the genius behind their aggressive defensive system, the Leinster coach was supremely popular with the Springbok players.

Damian de Allende sounded more like a jilted lover than a former player when he expressed his disapproval of Nienaber’s move to the club game in Ireland, a hint perhaps at how big his loss could be.

Although there are three new faces in the squad, it would be silly to expect anything other than a very familiar collection of hardened winners in the Springbok jersey when they roll out on to the Loftus Versfeld pitch on Saturday week. They’ve lost quality, but they’re replacing like for like. The scale of the challenge is clear for all to see.

South Africa squad

Front-row: Johan Grobbelaar, Bongi Mbonambi, Malcolm Marx, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Ox Nche, Gerhard Steenekamp, Trevor Nyakane, Thomas du Toit, Vincent Koch, Frans Malherbe.

Second-row: Eben Etzebeth, Salmaan Moerat, Franco Mostert, RG Snyman.

Back-row: Phepsi Buthelezi, Ben-Jason Dixon, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi, Evan Roos, Marco van Staden, Kwagga Smith, Jasper Wiese*.

Scrum-half: Faf de Klerk, Cobus Reinach, Grant Williams, Morne van den Berg.

Out-half: Handre Pollard, Manie Libbok, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.

Centre: Lukhanyo Am, Damian de Allende, Andre Esterhuizen, Jesse Kriel.

Back-three: Kurt-Lee Arendse, Aphelele Fassi, Cheslin Kolbe, Willie le Roux, Makazole Mapimpi, Edwill van der Merwe.

*Suspended for Ireland Tests

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