Injuries and form may push Rassie towards overhaul

YOU may have expected a Springbok changing of the guard at the end of 2023, but with injuries, poor form and other circumstances, the team Rassie Erasmus and his lieutenants Jacques Nienaber and Felix Jones will oversee for the first test against Wales at Ellis Park on August 16 – the Rugby Championship opener – could look very different from the first-choice group of the last two years.

- ASHFAK MOHAMED

With all due respect to Italy and Georgia, it would make little sense for the strongest possible Bok side to run out on July 5, 12 and 19 in Pretoria, Gqeberha and Mbombela respectively.

The main goals for 2025 should be winning the two Tests against the All Blacks in New Zealand on September 6 and 13 in Auckland and Wellington, as well as the November 22 date with Ireland in Dublin.

Considering Erasmus, understandable loyalty to his World Cup winners, you would expect that the top players would be lining up at Eden Park, Sky Stadium (Cake Tin) and Aviva Stadium.

But those who players are may have changed by the time the kick-off in 2025, with Damian Willemse the first-choice fullback before he got injured last season and then Aphelele Fassi over No 15.

Both have been sidelined for months, with Willemse only making his comeback for the Stormers in the last two weeks of March.

Now it is Stormers teammate again Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s chance for No 15, with the Springboks due to missing out on the Champions Cup and Challenge Cup knockout rounds – he will be back on the pitch on April 19 against Connacht in Cape Town.

If Willemse and Fassi’s absence, Warrick Gelant has stood out as the best South African fullback this season.

Other worthy candidates for the Bok No 15 jersey are Jordan Hendrikse, who can also fill in at flyhalf – Quan Horn and even Cheslin Kolbe in Japan.

Bulls veteran Willie le Roux also needs to be reassessed for a deserved Test caps this season.

At flyhalf, Handre Pollard is an established starter, but what about Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s chances if the Stormers No 10 injury?