So what was that all about? The buildup to the Springboks’ 2026 season was veering towards a negative narrative as injuries to key players sent shivers of apprehension through supporters, but if you look at the 51-man squad named by Rassie Erasmus, it appears to have been a false alarm.Lock crisis? What lock crisis? RG Snyman is out injured for the rest of the year, but looking at the names included in the Bok coach’s selection, you will see names that would be the envy of other international coaches. Eben Etzebeth, Lood de Jager and another World Cup winner in Franco Mostert are all there.So is Salmaan Moerat, and the only reason Ruan Nortjé is not there is because he is one of the Bulls players set to play in the URC final the night before the Boks open their season against the Barbarians in Gqeberha on June 20. Then there’s Pieter-Steph du Toit. He isn’t a lock these days, but he can play there, and he’s there, so he is obviously far from as crocked as we feared he was a few weeks ago.Even the scrumhalf position that everyone was rightfully concerned about is better stocked for the start of the international season than we thought. Cobus Reinach and Morné van den Bergh aren’t there because of injury, but Grant Williams must be fit again because he’s there.With Faf de Klerk recalled, it gives Erasmus two experienced international scrumhalves to call on, plus another Bulls player who is not there now but will almost certainly be called up when Erasmus finalises his squad on June 21 for the Nations Championship games. Embrose Papier capped a week that saw him crowned the URC player of the season with another man-of-the-match performance for his club in the URC semifinal in Edinburgh.Though the Stormers didn’t win, the two away semifinals added further to the sudden flood of positivity blowing through South African rugby. Papier was not the only Bulls Bok to excel, and Wilco Louw was one of the game shifters in a magnificent come-from-behind win away against Glasgow.The Bulls still being alive in the competition and having to wait nearly two weeks for the final does slightly mess with Erasmus’ plans in the sense that those players won’t be part of the training camp for the first two weeks, but counterbalancing that is the experience and personal growth that someone like Papier can get out of playing in a Grand Final in Dublin.Cameron Hanekom is another player starting to pick up excellent form as he builds momentum following his comeback from a long injury layoff, and he looks primed to add to his solitary Bok cap if or when needed. You would say the same about Evan Roos, who made his abrasive and powerful presence felt in the Stormers’ heroic though ultimately vain bid to secure a Cape Town final by becoming the first local team to win against Leinster at the Aviva Stadium (the Bulls’ away win in Dublin a few years ago was at the RDS Arena).In the same way that Papier excelled for the Bulls, so did an established Stormers Bok, Damian Willemse, who will have a crucial role to play in the coming months even though the other fullback, Aphelele Fassi, is another previously injured first-choice player who is back.The Stormers going toe-to-toe with an international strength like Leinster in their semifinal wouldn’t have harmed the readiness for international rugby of flanker Paul de Villiers and scrumhalf Imad Khan, who are both part of the squad.Mention of those names spotlights another positive — the squad doesn’t just alleviate some of the concern about the Boks’ readiness; it also showcases the huge player depth available to Erasmus.With the inclusion of exciting young players who were still at school this time last year, examples being flyhalves Yaqeen Ahmed and Markus Muller, it is a squad that tells you how strong the Boks are, and it tells you about the rich promise of the era that starts in the next World Cup cycle.