Rassie Erasmus has explained his decision to omit in-form Stormers No 8 Evan Roos from the Springboks’ 36-man end-of-year tour squad
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Roos, who has scored four tries in four URC matches this season, could only crack the 10-man standby group.
The 25-year-old has made just one Test appearance this year – off the bench against Italy in Port Elizabeth – and earned eight caps in total since his Bok debut in 2022.
Erasmus was asked on X: “What happened between you and Roos, Oom? You need to clear the air cause this isn’t a normal situation.”
The Bok boss replied: “My friend, he’s a world-class player and will play many Test matches for the Boks, we just have two really good eights in Jasper [Wiese] and Kwagga [Smith] and in my opinion they are still delivering at a higher level than Evan! So who to drop? One thing is a given, he is a Test match player and will probably make it in 2027.”
Evan Roos is doing the only thing he can control, which is deliver Player of the Match performances for the Stormers. If he does it enough, he will bang down Rassie’s selection door to the Springboks squad.
Jacques Nienaber, the 2023 Springboks World Cup-winning coach, picked Roos for his debut Test against Wales in Bloemfontein in 2022.
Wales won through the last kick of the game, a Gareth Anscombe conversion.
Stormers No 8 Roos, in the four seasons that has followed, has added just seven more caps to his international collection. He has not lost a Bok Test in those seven, although his game time has been limited. His Boks career total is 287 minutes for an average of 36 minutes a Test.
Erasmus has included Roos in extended squads and played him sparingly, but he has considered Roos outside of his Top 5 No 8 options in the country and when the Boks played Georgia he picked specialist lock Cobus Wiese at No 8. Wiese had never played No 8 and has not played for Erasmus’s Boks since.
Erasmus has consistently denied there is a personal issue with him and Roos. Others suggest there is a personal issue, but it is with Roos’s father and not necessarily with Roos. Whispers that turned to screams in the corridors suggested parental interference.
All parties dismiss there is an issue, but to believe that is to believe the fat guy with the big white beard in the red suit rides a reindeer and makes it down the slimmest of chimneys.
Erasmus has consistently said there is no place for Roos in his current squad.
‘Who do I leave out?’ has been a popular retort, and the rugby public have agreed.
Never doubt the man who has masterminded two successive World Cup titles, two successive Castle Rugby Championship titles and a British and Irish Lions home series win.
For me, it is not so much a doubt but a question because, for me, it is not a case of leaving out Jasper Wiese, Cameron Hanekom, Elrigh Louw, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Jean-Luc du Preez, Cobus Wiese, Siya Kolisi or Kwagga Smith. It is picking one less winger or one less utility back.
Roos is playing well enough to make any international touring squad, and Erasmus has never been rigid to the point of saying six does not fit into five. He has turned five into six by tweaking elsewhere.
