Springboks player ratings: Cheslin Kolbe’s mixed bag, Junior Bok captain shines as Edwill van der Merwe scores three
Springboks Riley Norton, Aphelele Fassi and Edwill van der Merwe in action against the Barbarians.
Following the Springboks’ entertaining 80-31 victory over the Barbarians, here’s how we rated Rassie Erasmus’ men in their first outing in 2026.
Springboks player ratings v Barbarians
15 Aphelele Fassi: After an injury-riddled spell, it’s understandable that Fassi lacked a killer edge today, but he certainly didn’t lack the desire to get involved and create. He had flashes of brilliance like a superb chase back before half-time to kill off a threatening Baa-Baas attack, and shifted the ball on well on several occasions like his assist for Jesse Kriel’s try. Still, he was not flawless and spent 10 minutes on the sidelines after getting his clear-out on TJ Perenara all wrong. 6
14 Cheslin Kolbe: The good, bad and outrageous all mixed into an action-packed 80-minute Kolbe performance. He coolly slotted the first conversion from out wide but suffered a freak injury after colliding with the cameraman. Soon after, he was flattened by Miracle Fai’ilagi and missed a tackle on the number eight; he then snapped up a loose ball and made a great break before being cut down when trying to kick. That was all in the opening nine minutes! He was skinned by Virimi Vakatawa and should have done better in defence in the build-up to TJ Perenara’s try. He slotted some tricky shots at goal and was superb under the high ball too. 7
13 Jesse Kriel: Grabbed a late try as the Springboks ran away with the match, but Jerry Flannery won’t be pleased with the defensive misread from Kriel and his centre partner who regularly shot up out of the line and were beaten on the edges. Still, it wasn’t a poor outing from Kriel, who smartly took the last penalty quickly, leading to a try. 6
12 Andre Esterhuizen: Like Kriel, there were mishaps in defence, but he grew into the game and scored a brilliant try in the second half as he rampaged through the Baa-Baas defence. 7
11 Edwill van der Merwe: A hat-trick of tries in just over an hour on the park and the TMO denied another, possibly his best of the lot. While his form for the Sharks was mixed, he immediately shifted gears in Green and Gold, bossing the aerial game, racking up 15 points and being reasonably solid in defence. The Boks certainly are not short on wing options. 9
Fly-half experiment
10 Quan Horn: A bold experiment from Erasmus and his coaching team but one that will have given them plenty of answers. Can Horn play fly-half well? The short answer is yes. The long one includes caveats. Like he isn’t the best line kicker on penalties and he isn’t used to being in the first line of defence from set-pieces; that was evident when he missed the tackle on Alex Nankivell, who linked up with Vakatawa to score the Baas-Baas’ first try. He showed great footwork in the build-up to Riley Norton’s try too. A mixed bag all in all but more positives than negatives. 6
9 Grant Williams: Three try assists in his first game since March was the real standout stat from Williams’ performance. His pass for Van der Merwe’s second try was sublime, while he channelled his inner Fourie du Preez to send Norton charging through. His box-kick caused all kinds of havoc for the Baa-Baas wingers, but he will be disappointed that he spent 10 minutes in the sin-bin for a deliberate knock-on. Shifted to the wing when Faf de Klerk came on and barely missed a beat. 7
Superb loose trio
8 Jasper Wiese: The Springboks’ starting back-row was nothing short of sensational, and Wiese led the charge with ball in hand as he usually does. He was a wrecking ball, sending men in black and white hooped jerseys skittling backwards. He snapped up an overthrown lineout to score the easiest of tries and was impactful at the breakdown too. Wiese was at his destructive in his 46 minutes. 8
7 Pieter-Steph du Toit: His first game since late December but boy you wouldn’t have been able to tell. PDST was up to his usual tricks, getting through a ridiculous amount of work and doing it in a manner few are capable of. He grabbed a try as he muscled through the traffic. Came back to finish in the absence of Franco Mostert. Simply unbelievable. 8
6 Siya Kolisi (c): 46 minutes was all Erasmus needed from his captain who brilliantly drew the last defender to send Van der Merwe through for the opening try. He backed that up with a crucial tackle on Duhan van der Merwe and made a nice break up field too. Kolisi did come short of making a great cover tackle but overall, it was a fine shift from the Boks skipper. 8
Tight five
5 Franco Mostert: The Boks coaching team will be hoping that his injury is not as serious as it seemed when he trotted off the pitch, considering the current depletion of the locking stocks. Plus, Mostert was just as solid as he always is. A willing carrier, a brilliant support runner and a great lineout jumper. Ticked the boxes yet again. 6
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4 Riley Norton: Much was expected of the Junior Springboks captain and the young forward certainly delivered with several strong tackles in the tight. He ran a sharp line off Williams’ shoulder to score in his first game in the Bok jersey. He didn’t look out of place in the team, which is saying something, but it may still be a bit too soon to suggest that he will be a regular; but one thing is for certain: this won’t be the last time Erasmus picks him. 8
3 Carlu Sadie: No Wilco Louw, no Thomas du Toit, no problem. Sadie filled the Springboks number three jersey with little fuss as the Champions Cup winner laid down a marker in the scrums and got through a handy amount of work around the park. South Africa really are blessed with their front-row depth. 7
2 Andre-Hugo Venter: Erasmus joked that his daughter’s boyfriend got a favourable selection call, but Venter absolutely repaid the head coach’s faith in him. He copped a few blows to the face, which simply comes with the territory, but overall, it was a strong performance in contact and an accurate one in the set-pieces. He will be fully deserving of more Test caps in 2026. 7
1 Ox Nche: Spilled the scraps when Van der Merwe slapped the ball down into his path. That gave him the opportunity to scrum, and boy did he lap that up as he battered D’Arcy Rae in every single time they squared up. Throw in some solid tackles and powerful carries and it was a happy day at the office for the cake-loving, scrum-dominating Springboks prop. 7
Replacements: The Bomb Squad exploded in the second half with Faf de Klerk making a welcome return to Green and Gold and firing the Boks’ attack into another gear with the seriously impressive rookie fly-half Vusi Moyo. JJ Kotze grabbed a five-pointer and continued the scrum dominance for the most part with Ntuthuko Mchunu and Zachary Porthen, while fellow Stormers Ben-Jason Dixon, Paul de Villiers, and Evan Roos overwhelmed the Baa-Baas. 8
