Watershed season looms for the Springboks' ageing stars

Answers regarding specific Springbok players and combinations will be more important than results over the next four weeks as the marquee matches of the Rugby Championship draw close

- By Jon Cardinelli

The Springboks will win their next four matches in South Africa by comfortable margins. This prediction is based on the quality of the hosts as well as the make-up of the opposition. The Barbarians only finalised their 23-man squad on Tuesday, 24 June four days before the clash against the world champions at the Cape Town Stadium.

Meanwhile, Italy have arrived in southern Africa ahead of the two-Test series against the Boks without 10 first-choice players, and the ever-improving Georgia who will meet the Boks in a one-off on 19 July are 11th in the World Rugby Rankings. Nevertheless, the Springboks have a great deal to gain from this four-match block, with a view to the 2025 Rugby Championship and Rugby World Cup (RWC) 2027.

The double-header against New Zealand in September and the tour fixtures against France and Ireland in November are must-wins for a Bok team looking to retain its No 1 ranking ahead of the RWC 2027 draw at the end of the year.

With development as well as results in mind, coach Rassie Erasmus must strike a balance between youth and experience in his match-day squads. Several youngsters and fringe players will receive more game time in the coming months, and veterans who fail to meet the team’s high standards may be phased out.

Toughest preseason ever

The “Hunger Games” theme has been pushed by Bok players and coaches alike at press conferences over the past two weeks.

According to Cheslin Kolbe, who has been with the national side since 2018, the recent conditioning camps have tested the players like never before.

Erasmus has spoken about the group’s new fitness programmes and front-row rookies such as Asenathi Ntlabakanye and Jan-Hendrik Wessels being sent to assistant coach Daan Human's farm in Bloemfontein for a more specialised training regime.