Following the announcement of Rassie Erasmus’ first Springboks team of the year, we pick out our winners and losers from the 23 named to face the Barbarians.

It’s worth noting from the outset that the Boks boss opted not to select any of the players who featured in the Premiership and United Rugby Championship finals, except for Bulls front-rower Jan-Hendrik Wessels

Also, the clash against the Baa-Baas in Cape Town is also not a capped international match, which is usually the case when the invitational team tackle a Test outfit.

Still, Erasmus is taking no chances naming a squad stacked with double Rugby World Cup winners and experienced campaigners who will face a Barbarians team containing at least seven former All Blacks, coached by the wily Robbie Deans.

So without further ado, here are our winners and losers.

Winners

Lood de Jager

Starting with the big man in the middle of the pack, Lood de Jager. Matches featuring the Barbarians are often dubbed a ‘celebration of rugby’ but for De Jager it is bound to be an emotional occasion as he returns to the Green and Gold for the first time since 2023.

The second-rower was robbed of the chance of representing South Africa at his third Rugby World Cup due to illness and was dealt another cruel setback last year when he suffered an injury in the Japan Rugby League One final, which sidelined him for the entire Bok season.

It won’t earn his 67th cap for the Springboks on Saturday, but this appearance will mean just as much to him as he rekindles his international career.

Four uncapped players

Again, this won’t be Test debuts for Vincent Tshituka, Asenathi Ntlabakanye, Marnus van der Merwe and Neethling Fouche, but it does mark the first time that they will pull on the Springboks jersey and provides the perfect opportunity to lay down a marker.

The quartet are all deserving of their opportunities after standout performances throughout the United Rugby Championship, not just this season but the campaign prior too.

For man mountain Ntlabakanye and powerhouse Fouche, it is a particularly massive chance with the Boks’ prop depth being really tested while double World Cup winners in the position are in the twilight of their careers. Frans Malherbe looks unlikely to play for South Africa this year due to injury, while Steven Kitshoff’s retirement and further setbacks for Gerhard Steenekamp and Trevor Nyakane has put the prop positions even more under the microscope.

Thomas du Toit is likely to feature regularly on the loosehead side of the scrum this year, along with Ox Nche, Wessels and possibly Boan Venter, while Vincent Koch and Wilco Louw fight for the tighthead jersey. So Ntlabakanye and Fouche have a grand opportunity to not only earn their debuts this year but perhaps add even more caps.

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The same applies to Van der Merwe as Erasmus tests the depth of the hooker waters beyond Malcolm Marx and Bongi Mbonambi. Last year, it was mainly Johan Grobbelaar and Wessels who featured in the role beyond the aforementioned pair, but in 2025, Erasmus has turned to the Scarlets man.

Jean-Luc du Preez

Like De Jager, Jean-Luc du Preez earns his first appearance for the Springboks since 2023, but unlike the experienced lock, his omission have not been due to injury.

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The 29-year-old has simply been a victim of the insane depth that the Boks have in the back-row, highlighted by the fact that he has earned just 14 Tests since debuting in 2016.

Du Preez has been slamming on the selection door throughout the years and finally gets another shot to prove his worth, particularly with Cameron Hanekom and Elrigh Louw sidelined while Jasper Wiese nears a return to full fitness.

A recall to the official squad has been long overdue and thoroughly deserved, as is a start against the Baa-Baas. Now it’s up to Du Preez to make the most of it.

Japan-based stars

Erasmus has made no bones about this fixture being the perfect opportunity to get minutes into the legs of players playing their club rugby in Japan and others who have been sidelined.

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“We’ve said over the last few weeks that this match will provide the ideal opportunity to get the Japanese-based players and a few other players back into full match-mode,” he noted again after naming the team.

This was the same reasoning for facing Wales at Twickenham before the series against Ireland last year and it comes as no surprise that only two Japan-based players don’t feature against the Baa-Baas: Jasper Wiese and Faf de Klerk.

Cheslin Kolbe, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende, De Jager, Marx, Franco Mostert and Kwagga Smith have all been included in the matchday 23 and rightly so, considering that they have been in training with the squad since wrapping up their season at the end of May.

In the same breath, it’s unsurprising that two of the three Lions players in the squad also crack the matchday 23 – Morne van den Berg and Ntlabakanye.

Rassie Erasmus

The Springboks boss trimmed since squad down to 45 players ahead of this match and considering that he made the decision to not select the likes of RG Snyman, Du Toit, Handre Pollard and just one of the players the Bulls stars who played the URC final is an indication of just how deep the Boks’ depth is.

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The list of losers below just emphasises the insane depth that Erasmus has at his disposal.

Losers

Ethan Hooker

Surely a victim of the need to get minutes into the legs of the Japan-based stars ahead of the Tests against Italy and Georgia next month.

This game would have been the ideal opportunity for Ethan Hooker to prove that he can make the step up to the international stage whether that be in the centres or on the wing. But unfortunately, all four of those positions have been filled by the experienced campaigners who ply their trade in Asia.

He may need to wait for the clash against Georgia to pull on that Green and Gold jersey but when that opportunity finally comes around, it will be fully deserved after a brilliant season for the Sharks.

Evan Roos

After being overlooked for the initial squad ahead of this block of fixtures, Evan Roos was called in to cover for the injury to Hanekom and would have fancied his chances of playing against the Baa-Baas.

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Last year, he was quite clearly ahead of Du Preez in the pecking order, after playing against both Wales and Portugal before opting to undergo surgery to sort a troublesome niggle that ended his international season, but that no longer seems to be the case judging by this weekend’s selections.

Du Preez gets the nod in the starting number eight jersey with Smith providing cover for him, Siya Kolisi and even Tshituka. Wiese is set to be fit in time for the Azzurri and it looks as though Du Preez is being tested in the structures as a possible back-up.

Faf de Klerk

The only fit Japan-based star who has not been selected in the matchday 23 as the livewire scrum-half continues to wait for his first cap since playing against Ireland last July.

The Springboks coaches still see value in having De Klerk in the squad and perhaps he will get a run out against Italy next month. At 33 years old, he is in the twilight of his career but is targeting another Rugby World Cup with South Africa but has very stiff competition in the form Van den Berg, Grant Williams, Reinach, and Jaden Hendrikse to name a few.

Makazole Mapimpi and Edwill van der Merwe

Along with Hooker, Makazole Mapimpi and Edwill van der Merwe miss out with the Boks coaches prioritising Kolbe and Arendse getting game time.

It’s an understandable decision given that they may well be the starting wingers against the Azzurri, with Arendse also missing the latter stages of his stint in Japan.

Mapimpi also tweaked his hamstring in training with the Boks, so he could be back in the selection frame after the match with the Baa-Baas. Still, Van der Merwe is rather unfortunate as he continues to wait for his second appearance for South Africa after scoring on his Test debut against Wales last year.

Salmaan Moerat

The Stormers captain will have surely relished the opportunity to play for the Springboks in Cape Town, particularly with his club locking partner set to play for the Baa-Baas.

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Unfortunately for Salmaan Moerat, he is beaten to the team by Jean Kleyn who will partner De Jager in the second-row with Erasmus again selecting a Japan-based star in Mostert as lock cover on the bench.