Boks to show tactical hand in two New Zealand 'finals'

Coach Rassie Erasmus has marked the end-of-year tour matches against Six Nations champions France and northern rivals Ireland as season-defining, but the next two Tests in Aotearoa may well shape this great team's legacy

- By Jon Cardinelli

The waiting is over, and the biggest rugby Tests of the year are finally upon us.

The Freedom Cup title is on the line, and the doubleheader in New Zealand may also determine who lifts the Rugby Championship trophy.

Rassie Erasmus' team is looking to become the first Springbok side to win at Eden Park and to secure back-to-back victories in New Zealand - since 1937.

The All Blacks are aiming to defend their 50-game unbeaten run at the Auckland fortress, and to end their four-match losing streak against the Boks.

Both teams will be desperate to prevail, and as a result, we could be in for two fixtures that mirror the intensity of a World Cup final or a British & Irish Lions series decider.

Back-row uncertainty

But neither team will be at full strength for the marquee series.

The Boks are missing double World Cup-winners Frans Malherbe and Trevor Nyakane, as well as one of the breakout stars of the 2024 season, loosehead prop Gerhard Steenekamp. Wingers Kurt-Lee Arendse and Edwill van der Merwe were ruled out on the eve of the tour to New Zealand.

Although the Boks have the depth to mitigate those front-row and back-three losses, concerns over their depleted loose-forward stocks persist.

No 8 Jasper Wiese is serving a four-game suspension, and won't be available until the second Test.

Other outstanding No 8 options such as Elrigh Louw and Cameron Hanekom have been ruled out for the season by injury, and flankers Deon Fourie and BJ Dixon may only return at the back end of the campaign.

Siya Kolisi sustained a knee injury in the first Test against Australia in Johannesburg, and the initial prognosis was a four-week layoff that would preclude the Bok skipper from the tour to New Zealand.