Bulls scrumhalf Embrose Papier has been in good form this season.
Two players who have been at the heart of the Lions’ resurgence in the United Rugby Championship — Morne van den Berg and Asenathi Ntlabakanye — are no longer part of their team’s play-off hopes and are also likely to be removed from the Springboks’ plans.
For tighthead prop Ntlabakanye, it looks like a long-term removal from both teams — unless he successfully appeals his 18-month ban for a doping offence — while the situation with scrum-half “Krappies" is less clear. We know only that he returned home from URC action in Ireland with a torn biceps. That would suggest he is in serious danger of missing out on July’s Nations Championship.
Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus is used to players succumbing to the various vagaries of the sport, and at tighthead prop and scrum-half, he will be examining his depth. We know the wily coach likes to have players stacked up in each position as his immediate favourites, his next-in-lines, and his long-term possibilities.
At the beginning of this year, the Bok options at nine centred around Cobus Reinach, Van den Berg, Grant Williams, and Jaden Hendrikse as the leading contenders, with Faf de Klerk a back-up in case of emergency, and Embrose Papier knocking on the door. Long-term replacements then — and now — were Junior Boks Haashim Pead and Imad Khan.
