Boks poised for record year

Rassie Erasmus gearing for a record year with Springboks. Ayanda Ndamane/Independent Newspapers

Rassie Erasmus gearing for a record year with Springboks. Ayanda Ndamane/Independent Newspapers

Published Oct 27, 2024

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The Boks have won eight of their ten Tests played so far this year — the two blips were against Ireland and Argentina — and if they go unbeaten on this tour they will finish 2024 with an 85 percent success rate. That would be their best since the game turned professional in 1996.

The Boks have been in hot form this year, twice comfortably beating the All Blacks and the Wallabies and their two losses were one-point nail-biters in Durban and Santiago del Estero.

Erasmus has picked his best players for the tour matches against Scotland, England, and Wales as he continues his policy of picking his veterans while they are still the best in their positions and adding a few new faces along the way.

He wants to keep winning momentum while slowly changing the face of the squad so that when the Boks get to the World Cup in Australia in 2027, they are on top of their game but not an aged team.

Most of the players that are well into their 30s will slowly drop out over the next three years.

The seriousness with which Erasmus is taking the tour is reflected in the 35-man squad's early departure for Europe so that they can have a training camp in Jersey, one of the Channel Islands of England.

Erasmus did something similar before the 2023 World Cup when he staged a camp in Corsica. This was to acclimatise for the heat and humidity of the south of France where they would play their opening game against Scotland.

The Scots are once more the Boks’ first opponents, on November 10, and they need no reminding of the toughness of Gregor Townsend’s team. The Boks led just 6-3 at halftime in that match thanks to two Manie Libbok penalties before pulling away to win 18-3.

Since the World Cup, the strength of Scottish rugby is reflected in the Glasgow Warriors winning the United Rugby Championship. The Scots are ranked seventh in the world.

The second tour match is a mouth-watering encounter with arch-rivals England at Twickenham. Usually, this fixture is the final game of the year but it being played mid-tour will take nothing away from its status as a favourite for the players. They will tell you that playing England before 80,000 fans is one of the best experiences in rugby.

England will remember how close they came to beating the Boks in the World Cup semi-final and will be hungry to prove a point. They are a form team and have climbed to fifth in the world rankings.

Wales, the Boks’ final tour opponents have plunged down the rankings. They are rebuilding and went winless in the Six Nations to drop out of the world top ten. They are eleventh, one spot below Australia, and this fixture should give Erasmus some leeway to give fringe players a shot. He will pick his best 23 for Scotland and England and can afford to give the balance of the players game time in Cardiff.

Springbok squad for the November tour:

Props: Thomas du Toit (Bath), Vincent Koch (Sharks), Wilco Louw (Bulls), Frans Malherbe (Stormers), Ox Nche (Sharks), Gerhard Steenekamp (Bulls)

Hookers: Johan Grobbelaar (Bulls), Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears), Bongi Mbonambi (Sharks)

Locks: Eben Etzebeth (Sharks), Franco Mostert (Honda Heat), Ruan Nortje (Bulls), RG Snyman (Leinster)

Loose forwards: Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz), Siya Kolisi (captain, Sharks), Elrigh Louw (Bulls), Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs), Marco van Staden (Bulls), Jasper Wiese (Urayasu D-Rocks)

Scrumhalves: Jaden Hendrikse (Sharks), Cobus Reinach (Montpellier), Grant Williams (Sharks)

Flyhalves: Manie Libbok (Stormers), Handré Pollard (Leicester Tigers)

Centres: Lukhanyo Am (Sharks), Damian de Allende (Wild Knights), Andre Esterhuizen (Sharks), Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles)

Outside backs: Kurt-Lee Arendse (Bulls), Aphelele Fassi (Sharks), Cheslin Kolbe (Suntory Sungoliath), Willie le Roux (Bulls), Makazole Mapimpi (Sharks), Canan Moodie (Bulls), Damian Willemse (Stormers).

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