How trophies and consistency set the 2025 Springboks apart

Erasmus's charges challenged perceptions with ground-breaking innovation and results.

- By Jon Cardinelli

Since the dawn of the professional era in 1996, the Springboks have been criticised for their mediocre performances in the years between World Cups.

Although they've won four World Cup titles and two British & Irish Lions series victories in this 30-year period, their overall win record has, for the most part, left a lot to be desired.

Over the past three seasons, however, die-hard critics have struggled to substantiate the argument that the South Africans are little more than big tournament bullies.

Although the 2023 season will be remembered for South Africa's World Cup triumph in France, the team finished the year with an 85% win record surpassing the 1998 and 2013 sides (both 83%) for the most consistent performance in a calendar year.

In 2024, Rassie Erasmus's charges won 11 of their 13 Tests to maintain that 85% win record, as well as their grip on World Rugby's No 1 ranking.

Fast-forward to the present, where they've racked up 11 wins in 13 Tests - and have made history by successfully defending the Rugby Championship and Freedom Cup titles for the first time.

If they beat a depleted Wales on Saturday, 29 November, they will finish the five-game tour to Europe with a perfect record and the 2025 Test season with an unprecedented 86% success rate.

Although the stats and facts show why this is the most successful Bok team of all time, there are other reasons 2025 will go down in history as a season to remember.

And as much as they've achieved, they are yet to reach the ceiling of their potential.

Navigating the transition period

At the start of the year, a reasonable question was how Erasmus might address the imbalance between the older and younger players in the squad.