It has emerged that Evan Roos is out for the rest of the year due to a shoulder operation to a long term shoulder injury that specialists have advised him should not be delayed.
With the prognosis being that he will be out of rugby for six to nine months, it means the DHL Stormers will be without their star No 8 for much of the forthcoming season, with the best case scenario being that he returns in February.
So it probably did have an impact, although Erasmus made no mention of it when he announced the squad for the two game tour Down Under. Instead he spoke about the need to spread the selection net and give Elrigh Louw an opportunity to increase his international experience by getting opportunities against a top team .
Which brings up a point - selection is becoming less of the hot topic and fuel for argument in this era of Bok rugby than it used to be, and it is not just because the Boks are reigning World Cup champions. It’s also because Erasmus is succeeding in his mission of creating depth. Whatever team Erasmus comes up with for the Suncorp Stadium clash, it will have enough World Cup winners in it to be able to deal with Australia while at the same time easing the transition of newcomers to international rugby.
And while it is crazy for the Currie Cup to be played at this time, and should revert to being played concurrently with the URC as it was before, the extra layer provided by the domestic competition is crucial too. Admittedly some of the defence has been mediocre, and some team selections in the early phases might not have been out of place for an Old Crocks XV, but generally the URC unions have embraced the developmental aspect.
It is the right time for Roos to undergo the procedure, however, as although the Springboks are in action in the Castle Lager Rugby Championship and the Carling Currie Cup is being played in this window, these middle of the year months are effectively the South African off-season. The start of the next edition of the Vodacom United Rugby Championship is still almost two months away, so if Roos does make it back in six months he misses four months and not the entire season.
Let me be straight: If I was the sole Bok selector, I would play Roos in every game he is available for. In my eyes he is that good, and he has more to his game than even the probable first choice, the currently suspended Jasper Wiese. But the word “my” is the operative one there. It is subjective. Whereas the omission of someone as good as Roos would have been frontline news when the Boks were less well equipped when it came to both class and experience, it isn’t now because we know that Erasmus is right - Louw is also talented enough to deserve a chance. He was injured at the start of the international season, but Cameron Hanekom is too.
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