Rassie Erasmus to trim down Bok Squad for Rugby Championship openers

Although Georgia put up a brave fight at the Mbombela Stadium in Nelspruit on Saturday, the Springboks had too much firepower for them in the end and eventually clinched a 55-10 victory.

The world champions outscored their opponents by nine tries to one with the Van der Merwes, debutant hooker Marnus and speedster Edwill, leading the way with a brace apiece. Boan Venter, Canan Moodie, Damian Willemse, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Handre Pollard also crossed the whitewash for the world champions.

That means the Boks have won all four of their matches that they played in recent weeks after also beating the Barbarians and notching back-to-back victories over Italy.

Focus now turns to the Rugby Championship and the Boks get their campaign in that tournament underway on successive weekends against Australia in Johannesburg and Cape Town respectively on August 17 and 24.

Erasmus said although he tried several new players and combinations during their recent mid-year Tests, he will be relying on more settled sides in the Rugby Championship.

"We're around 36 guys for two Australian matches and within that 36 there will be one or two guys we experiment with, but the bulk of the squad we will take out of the guys that we feel are the most settled and fits the best into how we want to play," he told reporters after the win over Georgia.

"The nice thing is now I think (roundabout) 48 guys have played for us now this year (and) including last year there is also a couple of guys that played for us.

"So we know all personalities, all the guys that are training, how well (they are doing), what is the intensity of training, what do we expect of them on and off the field. So some guys won't make the 35, 36 (players in the squad).

"We'll probably go with 36 for the first two games against Australia."

Erasmus reiterated that he will still do some experimentation during the Rugby Championship but on a smaller scale than during the mid-year internationals.

"We'll name 36 guys on Tuesday for the Australia series and within that squad there will be one or two guys that we experiment with, but the bulk of that squad will be experienced players who are suited to the way we want to play," he said.

"The nice thing is that we have got a group of 48 players or so that we have used this year and there is quite a couple that we would also like to give opportunities to like Jaden and Jordan (Hendrikse), Quan Horn, Renzo (du Plessis).

"But this was a series where we wanted to experiment a little bit, so getting the scorelines we did is pretty satisfying. But the Rugby Championship is definitely a step up."