Rassie unveils his plans for the international season

MASTER plotter Rassie Erasmus will use the first four matches of the Springboks' international season to mix and match his selections before moving on to the bigger fish that is the Rugby Championship, including two matches away to the All Blacks.

- MIKE GREENAWAY

The Boks' first block of matches is in South Africa against the Barbarians, Italy (twice) and Georgia.

Erasmus says he will introduce fresh blood in this match, reintroduce established Boks who have been out with injury, get his Japan-based players going after their break since the end of their season, and he will also continue with some of his aging players.

The Bok boss acknowledged that some of his World Cup winners are getting long in the tooth and won't make it to Australia in 2027, but while they are still at the top of the game, he won't discard them. “Just because a player's career will end in, say, 2026, and we are planning for the next World that doesn’t mean I have to take caps away from them,” Erasmus said.

“Yes, we do have an eye on the World Cup. However, as the saying goes: ‘If you look too far ahead, you forget about the present.’