Springboks squad: Five takeaways as Rassie Erasmus’ ‘surprise selections’ highlights benefits of SA Rugby structures while World Cup winner returns
Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus and an inset of Herschel Jantjies.
Following the announcement of the 46-man Springboks squad for the Nations Championship, here are our five takeaways from Rassie Erasmus’ selections.
Top line: Six uncapped players
Erasmus never fails to deliver a surprise or two when it comes to his Springboks squad selections, and he certainly didn’t disappoint ahead of the 2026 international season and their home matches against England, Scotland and Wales.
The squad features 28 forwards and 18 backs, with many of the usual suspects like captain Siya Kolisi and fellow double Rugby World Cup winners Malcolm Marx, Eben Etzebeth, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Franco Mostert, Cobus Reinach, Handre Pollard, Damian de Allende, Jesse Kriel, Cheslin Kolbe and Damian Willemse named.
It also includes six uncapped players in flanker Paul de Villiers, locks Riley Norton and Ruben van Heerden, prop Carlu Sadie, fly-half Vusi Moyo and winger Jaco Williams.
There is also a recall for Herschel Jantjies and Embrose Papier, the former returning to the squad for the first time since donning the Green and Gold jersey against Argentina before the 2023 Rugby World Cup. The latter will also be aiming to earn his first cap since 2018, which is just reward for his form with the Bulls that saw him named the SA Vodacom URC player of the Season.
12 Bulls have been added to the squad following their United Rugby Championship final defeat to Leinster, while Thomas du Toit also returns after completing his season with English club Bath.
“We are pleased with the quality of the group we have selected, and it’s also exciting to see the next generation of players coming through in Riley, Vusi, Paul, Carlu, Ruben and Jaco,” said Erasmus.
“They all proved against the Barbarians and SA ‘A’ teams that they have what it takes to play at the highest level, and as coaches, we are fortunate that we’ve had the opportunity to work with them in the last two weeks.
“They are all familiar with the way the Springbok environment operates, the standards expected at this level, and they have shown that they are comfortable in the set-up, so we are excited for them to make this step-up.”
Springboks squad: Six uncapped men named in Nations Championship group as World Cup winner returns
Lock crisis eased by utility forwards
Lood de Jager and Etzebeth are both working their way back to full fitness after missing the Boks’ victory over the Baa-Baas and may well be available for the crunch clash against England, which would be a welcome boost with RG Snyman, Jean Kleyn and Salmaan Moerat all sidelined. Mostert has also emerged as a doubt after injuring his ankle against the Barbarians, while Erasmus was eager to trial Lions star Ruan Venter in the second-row this year.
Stormers lock Van Heerden has subsequently been called up to the squad and could make his Test debut after yet another strong campaign with the men from Cape Town. It’s just reward for the 28-year-old who has been an incredibly consistent performer over the past few seasons. He was a late inclusion in the squad but certainly impressed the coaching team with his shift for South Africa ‘A’ against Zimbabwe, where he ran the lineout for the side en route to a 40-0 victory.
Ruan Nortje completes the four out-and-out lock options for the Boks with Erasmus making use of several utility forwards to ease the injury crisis. Most notably with the shock selection of Junior Boks captain Riley Norton, with the coaching team clearly believing that it will be better for his development if he spends time in the senior squad instead of leading Kevin Foote’s charges in Georgia.
The 20-year-old has been listed as a utility forward, suggesting that he could well be an option on the side of the scrum too. He is not alone in that regard, with Mostert, Du Toit and Cobus Wiese listed there too. That takes the tally of possible locks to eight, but that could be double digits if Vincent Tshituka and Ben-Jason Dixon are counted, with the former leading the SA ‘A’ team against Zimbabwe from the second-row whilst the latter is more than capable of moving from the loose trio too.
Rassie Erasmus continues to value youth
Norton is also not the only Junior Bok who will not be involved in South Africa’s title defence in Georgia, with Erasmus allowing Vusi Moyo and Jaco Williams the opportunity to stake a claim for a Test debut.
These are perhaps the most shocking inclusions in the squad and not because the trio aren’t solid players, but they are incredibly inexperienced. They have just ten senior appearances, three of which came in the Gqeberha doubleheader, with Williams shining for SA’A while Norton and Moyo impressed for the Boks against the Baa-Baas. In fact, Norton hasn’t even played for the Stormers yet.
It’s not the first time that the Springboks coaching team have backed youth, with Damian Willemse and Canan Moodie being prime examples of just that and, more recently, prop Zachary Porthen. While the trio’s call-ups could be viewed as investments beyond the World Cup, one should not write off their chances of boarding the plane to Australia next year.
Erasmus is clearly benefiting from the structures SA Rugby has put in place, with the head coach hailing the work that General Manager Dave Wessels and SA U20s coach Kevin Foote have done in the youth structures.
“What Dave and Kevin are doing is that they are giving us a product that is almost Test match-level ready. We’ll see when they play, but it feels like these guys are ready,” the Boks boss said last week.
Commenting on the squad, he added: “They all proved against the Barbarians and SA ‘A’ teams that they have what it takes to play at the highest level, and as coaches, we are fortunate that we’ve had the opportunity to work with them in the last two weeks. They are all familiar with the way the Springbok environment operates, the standards expected at this level, and they have shown that they are comfortable in the set-up, so we are excited for them to make this step-up.”
Only time will tell if the trio do earn their first Springboks caps next month, but considering their performances in the double headers, it would not be overly surprising if Erasmus gives them a run-out.
Shock scrum-half call and fly-half battle
Nine years on from earning all seven of his Test caps, Papier has finally earned a recall to the Springboks squad after a fantastic season with the Bulls where he scored 12 tries in 19 appearances. The nippy number nine is joined in the squad by Jantjies, who could earn his 25th cap, three years after his 24th.
“Embrose and Herschel have also made strong statements with their performances this season, and we are looking forward to welcoming them back in the squad,” Erasmus said of the pair.
Their selections come after the injury to Morne van den Berg, who Erasmus suggested could be fit again before the start of the Nations Championship, while Faf de Klerk was overlooked and has since been added to the Barbarians squad to face Wales. Cobus Reinach has been named in the squad despite the head coach stating last week that he could miss the Tests and be saved for Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series against the All Blacks.
Jantjies’ recall is the real shock of the squad selection. He burst onto the scene in 2019 and quickly cemented his place in the squad and came off the bench in the World Cup final victory over New Zealand. He remained a key cog of the team that won the British and Irish Lions series but started to fall out of favour in 2022. His form declined at the Stormers too but looks to have turned things around in his debut season in France with Bayonne, certainly in the Springboks coaches’ eyes at least.
It will be interesting to see where the duo sit in the pecking order, particularly after Grant Williams shone on his return from injury versus the Baa-Baas. Furthermore, who starts in the number ten jersey will also be a big talking point in July with Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu sidelined through injury while Erasmus has included three fly-halves in his squad.
The Boks boss came out to bat for Handre Pollard after his disastrous performance in the United Rugby Championship final defeat to Leinster, saying: “Handré didn’t exactly set the world alight for the Bulls, but he has never let us down. A lot of people are talking, but we know what Handré can do.”
He added: “It’s difficult to point fingers at someone while he’s playing for his franchise and you haven’t worked with him for a while. You don’t have a full view of the environment. Why would he suddenly become a poor player? Is there an injury? No, there isn’t, so perhaps he’s just had a week or two where he wasn’t exceptional.”
Pollard will almost certainly feature in the matchday 23 and could well be an insurance policy of sorts off the bench, a ploy that the coaches have used previously with Feinberg-Mngomezulu. While his form hasn’t been great of late, the double World Cup winner seems to lift his game in a Green and Gold jersey and will undoubtedly be incredibly valuable for a youngster like Moyo.
Meanwhile, Manie Libbok was a notable absentee from the two teams that played in Gqeberha. It’s possible that the coaching team felt that he has played plenty of rugby this year already with his Japanese club and didn’t need to be risked. He will surely get a run-out in July, while Erasmus might be eager to give Damian Willemse a start at fly-half at some point this year.
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Bulls additions and snub
It comes as no surprise that Erasmus has added a strong Bulls contingent to his squad, with 12 of Johan Ackermann’s charges added. The majority of the additions from the Bulls come in the forward pack in Wilco Louw, Gerhard Steenekamp, Johan Grobbelaar, Nortje, Cameron Hanekom, Marco van Staden, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, and Cobus Wiese. Papier, Pollard, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Moodie are the backs selected from the URC runners-up. Erasmus is confident that the Bulls players would slot back into the system with ease.
“All of the players with the exception of Embrose have been in our system in the last few seasons, so they know our structures well, and will have next week to get back into the swing of things, before we begin our proper Test-week preparations,” he said.
Hanekom is the standout inclusion with the 24-year-old primed to add to his single Test cap after he missed the entire 2025 international season through injury. He has been in outstanding form for the Bulls since his return and could be the perfect replacement for the injured Kwagga Smith.
The biggest omission from the Bulls, though, is fellow back-rower Elrigh Louw. Like Hanekom, he missed the entirety of the 2025 season through injury and has now been overlooked for the start of 2026. Tshituka and Dixon have clearly been favoured over the Bulls star but it’s worth remembering that Louw also missed out on selection for the July Tests in 2024 but went on to feature 10 times for Erasmus’ men.
