Get the fire started, grab a handful of biltong and pour yourself a double brandy and coke; the Springboks are back.
The start of a new Test season can feel like the night before Christmas. But this year, with a Barbarians tune-up to open the campaign, there are questions hanging in the air like braai smoke at dusk. How they settle could be pivotal as an ageing squad takes aim at an unprecedented World Cup three-peat in 2027.
Sweeping Italy and Georgia at home? Non-negotiable. Retaining the Rugby Championship crown? Strongly encouraged. And of course there are score-settling missions in Ireland and France come November.
But these will be regarded as means to an end. South African rugby trades in one currency; a shining golden trophy handed out every four years. If Rassie Erasmus wants to keep the main thing the main thing, three key areas need attention over the next six months.
What do they do with the legends?
Something happened during the United Rugby Championship quarterfinal between the Sharks and the Bulls this month that does not happen very often. A scrum with a front row consisting of Ox Nche, Bongi Mbonambi and Vincent Koch went backwards. Over 300kg of prime World Cup-winning beef was shunted in reverse at an almost staggering speed.
The culprits were a trio with just 22 Test caps between them. Two of them – Johan Grobelaar and Jan-Hendrik Wessels – are still in their 20s. The veteran – Wilco Louw – is still only 31, a certified pup as far as props are concerned. And though team strategies are not swayed by just a single scrum, the symbolism was poignant.
Of the 45 players assembled for July’s Tests, nearly half are over 30. Most were central to the 2019 and 2023 World Cup triumphs. But how many will still be effective, let alone in one piece, come 2027?
Willie le Roux, just two caps shy of a century, may call time by the year’s end. His rugby brain is elite, but his legs have gone. Mbonambi has looked tired in parts. Cobus Reinach and Faf de Klerk don’t have the zip they once possessed. Makazole Mapimpi and Lukhanyo Am are not the menaces of old.
Pointing out that a rugby team is in need of a few tweaks is hardly revelatory. But the team assembled for the effective friendly against the Barbarians is revealing. Only loose forward Vincent Tshituka, hooker Marnus van der Merwe, as well as the props Asenathi Ntlabakanye and Neethling Fouche are among the new faces in the group. And apart from Morne van der Berg at scrum-half and Jean-Luc du Preez at the base of the pack, it’s effectively a full strength team.
The message is clear; you have to be immense to break into this cohort. That’s all well and good, but if one of the old warhorses breaks down or loses form, and a deputy hasn’t built up the requisite experience to make the grade, Erasmus might realise that he’s missed a trick.
Do they stick with the big boys or run it from deep?
The bench for this weekend has an unfamiliar feel to it. Not just because of the absence of Handed Pollard, the man Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu recently called the greatest fly-half of all time. It’s that the Bomb Squad has been somewhat defused with five forwards supplemented by three backs.
One of those backs is the 1.94 m, 113 kg Andre Ezterhuizen. But Manie Libbok and Reinach complete the set and will reprise their union that blew hot and cold during the 2023 World Cup in France.
Now this one-off game against a Barbarians team that will be expected to run from deep might not reveal too much. Then again, perhaps Tony Brown and Erasmus have recognised that the Boks have evolved and so the approach should as well.
What then do they do with a plethora of playmaking backs? Only Pollard and Libbok are bonafide No.10s, which is good or bad depending on your viewpoint. Aphele Fassi is the incumbent at No.15 but will that be the case once the fit again Damian Willemse gets up to speed? And what of Canan Moodie and Jordan Hendrikse? Do they squeeze into a matchday 23 by virtue of their versatility?
Over the course of the year it would be great to see different combinations put to the test. There’d be no harm throwing out a backline of Grant Williams, Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Willemse, Ethan Hooker, Moodie, Edwill van der Merwe and Fassi. Why not? Erasmus might be tempted to write down all the names at his disposal, place them in a hat and pick them out at random.
Now is the time to experiment. He has the tools, more than he’s ever had in the backs. Sending it wide at the expense of extra big boys on the bench could pay dividends down the road.
Can someone else rise to lead?
Siya Kolisi remains the beating heart of this team, and as Erasmus has said, if he’s fit, he skippers. But being fit enough to play and warranting a place in South Africa’s best XV are two different things and by 2027, Kolisi will be 36.
A recent move to the back of the pack with the Sharks has allowed Kolisi to play more towards the ball, and he remains a threat in the trams. But can he genuinely hold his place in the best XV in two years? That uncertainty should prompt action now.
The good news is that Kolisi has fostered a culture of shared leadership. The team isn’t reliant on just one voice. But someone else will eventually need to wear the armband. Eben Etzebeth is the obvious choice and has led the side before. So has Salmaan Moerat and Mbonambi. Pieter-Steph du Toit is an influential figure. Could others shoulder the responsibilities of being a Boks skipper? Now seems like as good a time as any to find out.
