JUDGING BY THE clip Rassie Erasmus posted on Sunday morning, the Springboks had the mother of all nights to celebrate retaining the Rugby Championship.
Felix Jones appeared first in the video and it’s fair to say he looked shook.
Then we saw Erasmus lying on the ground of a function room in their team hotel in London, a pillow behind his head, the Championship trophy perched on his right knee, the trophy for beating Argentina on his left knee.
“This morning I wake up, I was a champion,” sang Erasmus.
The celebrations were well earned, with the Boks finishing top of the table ahead of the All Blacks on points difference after a hard-fought, absorbing Championship. Back-to-back titles in this competition add to this Springboks set-up’s claims as the greatest ever.
As usual, Erasmus mixed up his team selections at different points, once again underlining the enviable depth South Africa have. The Springboks used 36 players across their six games and while that was fewer than New Zealand’s 40 and Australia’s 38, there is no doubt that Erasmus has lots of high-quality players to choose from.
It’s not long until most of them will be back in action for the Springboks, with a busy autumn schedule seeing the South Africans take on Japan at Wembley Stadium in London, then visit France, Italy, Ireland, and Wales. Everyone will be looking for the scalp of the best team in the world. The contests against France and Ireland should be thrilling.
For now, the Boks have broken up and their players will have to shake off any hangovers quickly as they return to club duty. For those involved in the URC, the fact that Argentina hosted them in London for the final Championship game was handy, meaning they were already in the right part of the world.
With lots of British and Irish Lions players also set to make their seasonal bows with the Irish provinces or their Welsh and Scottish clubs, the next fortnight of URC action will be all the more interesting.
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The classy Canan Moodie is in the Bulls' touring squad. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
After beating Leinster last weekend, the Bulls now come on tour to Ireland for the next two weekends, taking on Ulster in Belfast before visiting Connacht in Galway. They’re in Glasgow the following weekend.
They’ve been boosted by new signing Handré Pollard joining their touring squad. The highly experienced out-half, who joined from Leicester, must be excited about pulling on the Bulls jersey for the first time since 2019.
Pollard played twice for the Boks during the Championship but he can’t have enjoyed watching 23-year-old Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu announcing himself in such riveting fashion.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu has been an obvious talent since his teenage years, but he moved to another level for the Boks in this campaign. With Mannie Libbok also still in the mix, playing four times in the Championship, the Boks’ number 10 stocks look healthy.
Pollard is still only 31 and he is a proven big-game player, so he clearly still has a huge role to play for the Boks. But the increasing emergence of Feinberg-Mngomezulu will surely be highly motivating for Pollard. The Bulls will look to benefit.
Canan Moodie, who featured in all six Championship games, also joins the Bulls’ tour up north, as does heavyweight tighthead prop Wilco Louw, although he will return home after the Connacht game.
Further boosting the Bulls is the fact that they’ve welcomed centre Jan Serfontein, lock Cobus Wiese, and 19-year-old wing Cheswill Jooste back from injury for this trip. Ulster and Connacht will need to be in fine form to take down Ruan Ackermann’s men.
Leinster face the Sharks in Dublin this weekend, with John Plumtree’s side eager to bounce back from a poor start to the season. They lost in Glasgow on the opening weekend, then had a fairly miserable draw with the Dragons last time out.
Ethan Hooker returns to the Sharks after his Boks breakthrough. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
So welcoming some of their Springboks into camp this week has been a boost.
Tighthead prop Vincent Koch and wing Makazole Mapimpi are back in the mix, bringing lots of know-how, while 22-year-old Ethan Hooker – a real breakout star for the Springboks – has returned to camp.
Hooker initially broke through as an impressive centre and seems likely to end up playing at number 13 long-term, but the Sharks used him heavily on the wing last season.
Erasmus was clearly impressed and having debuted off the bench against Italy in July, Hooker got his first Springboks start on the wing in the 43-10 dismantling of New Zealand in Round 4 of the Championship. He kept his place for the rest of the competition.
It remains to be seen if any of the Sharks’ other Boks are back on URC duty in Dublin this weekend, with Bongi Mbonambi having been lightly raced in the Championship as the likes of Ox Nché, Eben Etzebeth, Siya Kolisi, André Esterhuizen, and Grant Williams played more prominent roles.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu, very much the man of the moment, is set to link up with the Stormers as they come north for the next three weekends to take on Scarlets, Zebre, and Benetton. After opening with a big win against Leinster, John Dobson’s men made it two from two so far by beating the Ospreys last weekend.
And if word from South Africa is accurate, Feinberg-Mngomezulu will be joined by fellow Springboks Cobus Reinach and Damian Willemse in boosting the Stormers’ squad.
35-year-old Reinach is a new signing for the Stormers, returning to South African club rugby after eight years in Europe with Northampton and Montpellier. As he underlined in recent weeks with the Boks, Reinach remains a class act.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu is the man of the moment. Alamy Stock Photo
Alamy Stock Photo
Willemse, who is still only 27 but has huge experience, did much the same in the closing three rounds of the Championship. Whether at fullback, inside centre, or even out-half, he is always a big influence.
While the reality is that these big-name Springboks will have to be well-managed over the course of the season, it’s exciting for the URC to welcome them back from Test duty.
As Lions players like Mack Hansen, Tadhg Beirne, and Josh van der Flier look to give Connacht, Munster, and Leinster a boost in the coming weeks, these Springboks will be doing the same for their South African sides.
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Champion Springboks return to boost South African URC sides
JUDGING BY THE clip Rassie Erasmus posted on Sunday morning, the Springboks had the mother of all nights to celebrate retaining the Rugby Championship.
Felix Jones appeared first in the video and it’s fair to say he looked shook.
Then we saw Erasmus lying on the ground of a function room in their team hotel in London, a pillow behind his head, the Championship trophy perched on his right knee, the trophy for beating Argentina on his left knee.
“This morning I wake up, I was a champion,” sang Erasmus.
The celebrations were well earned, with the Boks finishing top of the table ahead of the All Blacks on points difference after a hard-fought, absorbing Championship. Back-to-back titles in this competition add to this Springboks set-up’s claims as the greatest ever.
As usual, Erasmus mixed up his team selections at different points, once again underlining the enviable depth South Africa have. The Springboks used 36 players across their six games and while that was fewer than New Zealand’s 40 and Australia’s 38, there is no doubt that Erasmus has lots of high-quality players to choose from.
It’s not long until most of them will be back in action for the Springboks, with a busy autumn schedule seeing the South Africans take on Japan at Wembley Stadium in London, then visit France, Italy, Ireland, and Wales. Everyone will be looking for the scalp of the best team in the world. The contests against France and Ireland should be thrilling.
For now, the Boks have broken up and their players will have to shake off any hangovers quickly as they return to club duty. For those involved in the URC, the fact that Argentina hosted them in London for the final Championship game was handy, meaning they were already in the right part of the world.
With lots of British and Irish Lions players also set to make their seasonal bows with the Irish provinces or their Welsh and Scottish clubs, the next fortnight of URC action will be all the more interesting.
After beating Leinster last weekend, the Bulls now come on tour to Ireland for the next two weekends, taking on Ulster in Belfast before visiting Connacht in Galway. They’re in Glasgow the following weekend.
They’ve been boosted by new signing Handré Pollard joining their touring squad. The highly experienced out-half, who joined from Leicester, must be excited about pulling on the Bulls jersey for the first time since 2019.
Pollard played twice for the Boks during the Championship but he can’t have enjoyed watching 23-year-old Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu announcing himself in such riveting fashion.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu has been an obvious talent since his teenage years, but he moved to another level for the Boks in this campaign. With Mannie Libbok also still in the mix, playing four times in the Championship, the Boks’ number 10 stocks look healthy.
Pollard is still only 31 and he is a proven big-game player, so he clearly still has a huge role to play for the Boks. But the increasing emergence of Feinberg-Mngomezulu will surely be highly motivating for Pollard. The Bulls will look to benefit.
Canan Moodie, who featured in all six Championship games, also joins the Bulls’ tour up north, as does heavyweight tighthead prop Wilco Louw, although he will return home after the Connacht game.
Further boosting the Bulls is the fact that they’ve welcomed centre Jan Serfontein, lock Cobus Wiese, and 19-year-old wing Cheswill Jooste back from injury for this trip. Ulster and Connacht will need to be in fine form to take down Ruan Ackermann’s men.
Leinster face the Sharks in Dublin this weekend, with John Plumtree’s side eager to bounce back from a poor start to the season. They lost in Glasgow on the opening weekend, then had a fairly miserable draw with the Dragons last time out.
So welcoming some of their Springboks into camp this week has been a boost.
Tighthead prop Vincent Koch and wing Makazole Mapimpi are back in the mix, bringing lots of know-how, while 22-year-old Ethan Hooker – a real breakout star for the Springboks – has returned to camp.
Hooker initially broke through as an impressive centre and seems likely to end up playing at number 13 long-term, but the Sharks used him heavily on the wing last season.
Erasmus was clearly impressed and having debuted off the bench against Italy in July, Hooker got his first Springboks start on the wing in the 43-10 dismantling of New Zealand in Round 4 of the Championship. He kept his place for the rest of the competition.
It remains to be seen if any of the Sharks’ other Boks are back on URC duty in Dublin this weekend, with Bongi Mbonambi having been lightly raced in the Championship as the likes of Ox Nché, Eben Etzebeth, Siya Kolisi, André Esterhuizen, and Grant Williams played more prominent roles.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu, very much the man of the moment, is set to link up with the Stormers as they come north for the next three weekends to take on Scarlets, Zebre, and Benetton. After opening with a big win against Leinster, John Dobson’s men made it two from two so far by beating the Ospreys last weekend.
And if word from South Africa is accurate, Feinberg-Mngomezulu will be joined by fellow Springboks Cobus Reinach and Damian Willemse in boosting the Stormers’ squad.
35-year-old Reinach is a new signing for the Stormers, returning to South African club rugby after eight years in Europe with Northampton and Montpellier. As he underlined in recent weeks with the Boks, Reinach remains a class act.
Willemse, who is still only 27 but has huge experience, did much the same in the closing three rounds of the Championship. Whether at fullback, inside centre, or even out-half, he is always a big influence.
While the reality is that these big-name Springboks will have to be well-managed over the course of the season, it’s exciting for the URC to welcome them back from Test duty.
As Lions players like Mack Hansen, Tadhg Beirne, and Josh van der Flier look to give Connacht, Munster, and Leinster a boost in the coming weeks, these Springboks will be doing the same for their South African sides.
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