Like a great siege engine capable of flattening a fortress, Rassie Erasmus has built a destructive rugby machine. For the series decider against Ireland in Durban, South Africa’s coach has selected the most experienced team in Springboks history with the aim of hammering Andy Farrell’s charges into oblivion.
There are a total of 990 Test caps across the match-day 23. The starting pack has an average of 71 matches under their belt. Had Damian Willemse been fit, and therefore taken the place of Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu as the versatile playmaker off the bench, South Africa’s total number of Test caps would have passed beyond 1,000.
The message is clear. All that matters is the here and now. The centre pair of Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel – both maligned figures early in their careers but now overwhelmingly viewed in a favourable light – will break the South African record for most matches together in midfield with 30. Across the group, from the half-back combination of Faf de Klerk and Handre Pollard – who started both triumphant World Cup finals in 2019 and 2023 – as well as the back three, the back row, the second row and the front row, there are players who are likely more familiar with the feel of their teammates’ shoulders than they are the embrace of their wife and children.
Since 2018 Erasmus has sacrificed short-term wins for success at the World Cup. Beyond recognising that the Webb Ellis Cup is rugby’s greatest prize, he has understood the significance of that golden trophy for the South African public. Winning it has not only been a matter of pride but great cultural importance. What’s a defeat to Australia in Sydney, or a first-ever loss to Wales at home, when compared to a ticker-tape parade through the streets of Cape Town and Soweto?
But this is different. Noise emanating from Ireland, circulating online and percolating from pundits and former players set up this two-match series as a battle for supremacy. Ignoring the two unions’ mismatched trophy cabinets, this was billed as a means to answer a nagging question: which nation can claim to be the sport’s true masters? Erasmus, his players and their supporters have been desperate to provide a definitive retort.
Which is why Erasmus, the great tinkerer who once half-joked, half-bragged, that his team is difficult to analyse given how often it chopped and changed, has named an unchanged side from the one that beat Ireland by seven points last week. He’s clearly seen something he likes.
More importantly, though, this might be the last time we see this team, in this current guise, take the field together. Of the starting 15, 11 were on the pitch for the opening whistle against England in Yokohama in 2019. Of the eight replacements for the upcoming game against Ireland, three were present off the bench five years ago. The average age of the starting 15 is 31 years old. The average age of the starting 15s of Ireland, New Zealand, England, Australia and Wales this weekend are all 28 or younger.
Perhaps Erasmus is also eyeing a Rugby Championship win and could yet keep this group together a little longer. After all, the Springboks have not won the southern hemisphere title outside of a World Cup year since 2009. Given the state of flux at the All Blacks, and the diminished quality within the Wallabies and Pumas camps, this is a golden opportunity to add some silverware for the Boks.
Even so, Erasmus would be remiss not to at least experiment with some changes. Would there be any harm in giving Ethan Hooker an extended run in midfield, or Evan Roos a genuine shot at cementing his position at the base of the Springboks pack? Gerhard Steenkamp has already earned his call-up but what about Ntuthuko Mchunu or Neethling Fouche? Might they get an opportunity in the front row?
There is no shortage of depth and Erasmus would be wise to ensure every position is stacked with young, hungry talent that has enough miles in the legs to step up when required. Form and fitness are two variables that no coach can bank on. What he can control is making sure that enough deputies have experience against high-quality opposition. Even with a Rugby Championship on the line, or the chance of a clean sweep against the Home Nations later this year, South Africa’s match-day 23 must have more than a smattering of players who were spectators throughout this golden era.
And what of those already in the mix? Willie le Roux is – for my money – South Africa’s best full-back of the professional era, eclipsing the great game manager Percy Montgomery, and even the so-called Rolls Royce that is André Joubert. We’ll miss him when he’s gone, and even though he is still contributing at first receiver and dictating play, his final days in green are upon us.
Others should also make way for younger upstarts. Handre Pollard is the only fly-half to win two men’s Rugby World Cups and if there was ever a player to kick a clutch goal to save your life, it’s the 30-year-old with shark eyes and a permanently furrowed brow. But is he the fly-half that the Springboks need right now? With a new attack coach in the mix, and the promise to dazzle out wide and discombobulate with intricate strike-plays, South Africa should put their faith in a more enterprising conductor at the heart of their offence.
Manie Libbok, who was rightly hooked during the first half of South Africa’s struggle against England in last year’s semi-final, has to return. It makes sense that Feinberg-Mngomezulu was given the nod on the bench for Ireland, given his ability to cover multiple positions. But if the Springboks are genuine in their intention to expand their game then Libbok has to be given the keys to this machine.
Evolution is paramount in sport and Erasmus has shown time and again that he is willing to adapt as needed. This series against Ireland was not the time for change. That will, and must, come later.
For now, let us enjoy this group while we have them. They are not only the most experienced team ever assembled in South Africa’s history, but arguably its greatest. This Saturday may be the last we see them all together.
