RESPECT: Rassie gets it right with Roos

RESPECT Springboks coach Rassie: You have got it right with including Evan Roos in your Springboks squad. Turn him into an international machine.

(Rassie) Erasmus gave DHL Stormers utility loose-forward Evan Roos a belated Springboks call-up following injury to Bulls No 8 Cameron Hanekom in the Bulls 25-13 Vodacom United Rugby Championship win against the Sharks in Pretoria.

Hanekom left the field injured after a clean out from Sharks captain and inspirational Springboks leader Siya Kolisi. Earlier in the match Hanekom had been shown a yellow card for a ruled tip tackle on Kolisi.

Roos, despite his outstanding form for the Stormers in the URC in the last three months of the tournament, which included eight successive matches and a quarter-final, in which he ranked highest among the Stormers forwards and played the most minutes.

I wrote at the time that Rassie had got it wrong and that, if it was personal then the Bok coach had the platform and had built the environment in which to get the best out of the player and make him an asset to the Boks in the build-up to the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia.

Fair play to Erasmus in picking the in-form Roos. Northampton Saints No 8, and former Stormers No 8 Juarno ‘Trokkie’ Augustus, got a first ever national call-up after an impressive season with the beaten Investec Champions Cup finalists and Jasper Wiese was picked, despite having undergone a neck operation three months ago. Sales Sharks utility forward Jean-Luc du Preez, who can play 8, 7 and lock, was also preferred ahead of Roos, with Hanekom completing the No 8 specialist picks.

The word from within the Bok camp was the others offered more to the Boks and that better players were selected. The narrative was that it was not personal but based on a pecking order.

I believed that to be nonsense.

With Hanekom injured, there was no in-form No 8 but Roos. However, as the Bok coach Erasmus is his own boss and he picks who he wants in his squad. The coach could have said he simply does not want Roos there or he could have said he was giving him another opportunity, but on arrival would spell out what was needed from the player to stay in the mix.

Erasmus showed the maturity of a World Cup-winning coach and an all-round winner to pick Roos. It is a victory for South African rugby because Roos, the player, is too good not to be in an expanded Boks squad of 54.

Thank you Rassie for recognising this. Now it is over to Roos to reward the call-up with an attitude that compliments his obvious form and talent.

The 25 year-old Roos, who made his debut against Wales in 2022, has played seven Tests for the Springboks and been on the winning side six times. His only defeat was on debut when Wales scored a historic win in Bloemfontein. New Zealand born, raised and former All Blacks u20 flyhalf Gareth Anscombe kicked a conversion with the last kick of the game to give the Welsh victory.

KEO & ZELS SHOW: RAVING ABOUT ROOS FOR THE STORMERS IN THE URC