State of the Nation: Springboks’ ‘biggest success story’ as Rassie Erasmus flexes ‘unbelievable luxury’ but left with minor regret
Springboks centre Jesse Kriel and an inset of head coach Rassie Erasmus.
Following the conclusion of the Southern Hemisphere leg of the 2026 Nations Championship, we update you on the state of the participating nations. Next up, it’s Rassie Erasmus’ Springboks.
The back-to-back World Cup winners headed into the new year with a real bounce in their step after winning the 2025 Rugby Championship and once again going unbeaten during the end-of-year tour, defeating Japan, France, Italy, Ireland and Wales.
This year is a massive one for Erasmus and his team not only because of their bid to become the first nation to win a hat-trick of Rugby World Cups with Australia 2027 fast approaching, but they also compete in the maiden Nations Championship and host the All Blacks in three Tests in South Africa and once in the USA in Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Series.
The head coach blooded a host of new players last year and has continued that trend in the opening three fixtures in the new competition, and has successfully experimented whilst winning at the same time.
Nation Championship summary
Three Tests. Three different opponents. Three different teamsheets. 19 tries. 130 points scored. 49 conceded and three bonus-point victories. The back-to-back world champions now lead the Southern Hemisphere table following the opening three rounds of the Nations Championship after a flawless start to their 2026 international season, which also included a comprehensive win over the Barbarians as a warm-up match.
After defeating the Baa-Baas, the Springboks turned their attention to their first official Test match of the year, against England at Ellis Park in Johannesburg. England endured a troublesome Six Nations campaign but still posed a real threat to Erasmus‘ men. However, they proved to have a bigger bark than bite, with the Springboks thundering their way to an emphatic seven-try, 42-28 victory at the famous venue – doing so despite the late withdrawals of Eben Etzebeth and Siya Kolisi.
Scotland were next on the hit-list with Loftus Versfeld playing host to the fixture which saw an incredibly inexperienced team take to the pitch against a pretty much first-string Scottish side. Erasmus made 10 changes to the starting line-up and fielded a matchday 23 that featured 13 players who had fewer than 10 international caps for what he predicted would be the biggest challenge this window. The objective: throw a bunch of rookies in the deep end and see if they sink or swim. The team swam, claiming a six-try 42-28 victory, but the head coach admitted that there were some who didn’t hit the marks they needed to. Important lessons learned for all involved.
Erasmus wasn’t done with his experimentation yet as he made 18 changes to his matchday 23 for the meeting with Wales in Durban. The coastal venue is infamous for producing error-ridden affairs with players struggling to hold onto the slippery ball, and whilst the Boks couldn’t buck the trend of messy affairs at the Shark Tank, they still managed to keep the Welsh pointless and score 43 of their own.
Standout players
With Erasmus rotating, experimenting and testing his depth, it’s a bit more challenging to pick out standout performers with the lack of consistent selections. However, there were still players who the head coach relied on this month and duly rewarded Erasmus.
Pieter-Steph du Toit is the obvious one, with the veteran forward showing no signs of rust despite playing just three times for his Japanese club Toyota Verblitz this season. Not only did the two-time World Rugby Player of the Year captain the side, and do so well, in the absence of Kolisi, but he shifted between flank and lock with no fuss whatsoever. Amidst the second-row crisis, he was a safe pair of hands in the lineout while still producing action-filled performances with his ridiculous work-rate.
Fellow veteran Jesse Kriel also started all three of the Test matches and scored tries in each fixture, with his five-pointer against Scotland being crucial in the outcome of the game. The 32-year-old hasn’t always been the most adored Springbok by fans, but he is becoming more and more appreciated with each passing Test match as he notched his 90th against Wales.
Paul de Villiers was another who stole the limelight, with the Stormers workhorse impressing on debut and seemingly getting better the longer he wore the Green and Gold jersey. His clubmate Damian Willemse was simply outrageous in the opener against England while playing full-back; he shifted to 12 against Scotland, where he impressed again and enjoyed a strong cameo off the bench in the final game of July.
Malcolm Marx brought his rich run of 2025 form into the new year, while several newbies took their opportunities with both hands, notably tightheads Zachary Porthen and Carlu Sadie, and winger Jaco Williams.
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Jan-Hendrik Wessels impressed at hooker and loosehead prop after missing the end of the international season last year; Cobus Wiese was fantastic in the last two Tests, while his older brother Jasper proved he is the first-choice number eight and one of the best in the world too.
Stat leaders
A consistent starter for the Springboks, Jesse Kriel proved that he is far more than a defensive leader in the backline as the experienced midfielder darted in for a try in all three of the Nations Championship matches, finishing as the team’s top try scorer. Only Will Jordan (6) and Josh Canham (4) have scored more times than him so far in the competition. He also finished as the joint-top points scorer in Green and gold along with Cheslin Kolbe who scored all his points against England, scoring a try and five conversions.
Damian Willemse topped the metres gained for the Boks, gaining 126, while Jasper Wiese beat the most defenders (10), with the former, Cobus Wiese and Grant Williams all beating seven apiece.
The Springboks really did share the workload in July with Ruan Nortje and Pieter-Steph du Toit topping the tackle counts with 33 and 32 respectively. The duo were incredibly busy throughout, though with Du Toit racking up 77 ruck entries, Nortje 59, while rookie De Villiers split the pair with 71. It’s worth noting though that Nortje played just twice while the other two featured in all three matches.
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Success story
Quite simply, the depth of the Springboks. Erasmus utilised 49 players this month, 43 in the Nations Championship matches. He issued six Test debuts and gave 26 of the 69 matchday 23 positions to players with fewer than 10 caps, nearly 38%. It was a real flex from the head coach who continues to search deeper and deeper into the Springboks’ depth pool, leaving no stone unturned as he ramps up preparations for the 2027 Rugby World Cup and beyond.
What makes it all the more impressive is that not only did South Africa win all three of their matches, but they did so quite convincingly and amid mass changes from the head coach, who made 10 changes to his starting line-up from Test one to Test two and then 17 from Test two to three.
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The result in Pretoria was the finest illustration of just how deep the Boks’ depth is, with Erasmus’ team getting the better of a vastly experienced and largely first-choice outfit boasting 764 caps worth of experience. The men that took the pitch at the home of the Bulls had just 492 caps across the 23, 432 of which were in the starting XV. Captain Du Toit (96), fly-half Handre Pollard (85) and centre Kriel (88) contributed 267 of those appearances between them. Despite being significantly less experienced, the Boks managed to eke out a 42-28 victory and gave the head coach plenty of ‘answers’ about the players that took to the field.
Whilst there were defensive lapses in the win over Scotland – which were put down to cohesion by Erasmus – they proved that the squad is clear in their roles, responsibilities and overall playing structures, which bodes well for them going forward. It also means that the Springboks coaches are in an unbelievably luxurious position going forward where they select just about anyone against any opponent and be comfortable they will step up to the mark.
That was also proved against England when Etzebeth and Kolisi were late withdrawals from the starting line-up, with Du Toit moving into the second-row with Cameron Hanekom and debutant De Villiers coming into the starting line-up – essentially replacing 244 Test caps in the starting XV with just one. Early in the first half, they also lost Ox Nche, arguably the best loosehead prop in the world. Still, they managed to claim a 45-21 win.
De Villiers would go on to start against Scotland and Wales too and was one of just four players – also Ben-Jason Dixon, Kriel, and Du Toit – to play in all four of the Springboks’ home matches so far this year and was crowned man of the match against the Welsh. With Kwagga Smith out and Kolisi sidelined, Erasmus needed another flanker to rise to the occasion and the Stormers star did just that.
Considering the strength and depth of the Boks, it’s a remarkable feat from the rookie that he has broken into the team in this manner and stamped his mark the way that he has. From an individual point of view, the former Junior Boks skipper is the biggest success story of July, outside of Erasmus’ experimentation and flexing of the riches South Africa has.
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Main regret
In a month filled with positives, there is little Erasmus will regret from July, with the only disappointments being largely out of the coaching team’s control. They beat England rather comfortably, rolled the dice against Scotland and were richly rewarded, and then hammered Wales without even playing that well. So one really has to nitpick to find the regrets, because frankly, there aren’t many. One regret that was out of their control was that they were unable to get Etzebeth back onto the pitch and get some much-needed game time under his belt.
While Erasmus did get the opportunity to trial a plethora of combinations and new faces in the system, the one position that remained untouched was outside centre, with Kriel playing all three games. The veteran is a key cog in the defensive structures, but the head coach admitted after the win over Scotland that he hoped to test others in the position. Canan Moodie’s illness and injury struggles denied the Bulls star the opportunity, while Ethan Hooker was another option in the position but also sustained an injury on his return. Henco van Wyk would have likely made his first bow had he not been injured in the latter stages of the Lions’ URC season.
The number 13 jersey was the only one that didn’t change hands in the four matches so far this year, and whilst there hasn’t been a reason to drop Kriel, Erasmus surely would have liked to see how others fared in the role.
Finally, after putting 73 past Wales in November, perhaps the Bok coaching team would have liked a similarly emphatic scoreline in Durban, but one really can’t complain about a 43-0 result.
Results
Springboks v England (Springboks won 45-21)
Springboks v Scotland (Springboks won 42-28)
Springboks v Wales (Springboks won 43-0)
