Springboks team: Five takeaways including Rassie Erasmus’ ‘smart ploy’ while next-gen pairing challenged by Italy’s telepathic combo
Springboks back Ethan Hooker and head coach Rassie Erasmus.
Following the announcement of Rassie Erasmus’ Springboks team to face Italy, here are our five takeaways.
Top line
After sweeping France aside 32-17 in Paris, the Bok boss is flexing his depth once again, making 11 changes to his starting XV with Damian Willemse, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Siya Kolisi and Boan Venter the only four players who retain their place in the run-on team.
Edwill van der Merwe replaces Cheslin Kolbe in the back-three, while a new midfield combination features for the first time in Green and Gold as Ethan Hooker starts at inside centre, partnering Canan Moodie.
Having started the last five Springboks Test matches at fly-half, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu makes way for the vastly experienced Handre Pollard while Morne van den Berg earns just his third cap of the year at scrum-half.
In the back row, Marco van Staden dons the number eight jumper and will provide hooker cover – more on that later – with Ben-Jason Dixon earning his first appearance in Green and Gold in 2025. Kolisi completes the loose trio.
Jean Kleyn and Franco Mostert combine in the second row, while rookie tighthead Zachary Porthen starts alongside hooker Johan Grobbelaar and loosehead Venter.
While Erasmus has made a plethora of changes to his starting line-up, the bench that blew France off the park remains largely intact, with Kwagga Smith filling Grobbelaar’s vacancy. There is an element of risk with the eight reserves with no replacement hooker, as Gerhard Steenekamp and Wilco Louw are the only front rowers on the bench.
RG Snyman, Ruan Nortje and Smith are the only forwards on the bench, along with Andre Esterhuizen who provides a hybrid option. Grant Williams and Manie Libbok are the final two inclusions in the 23.
Springboks team: Rassie Erasmus’ risky hooker gamble in one of ELEVEN changes
The look to the future
Double Rugby World Cup winner Damian de Allende has dominated the number 12 jersey over the last decade, forming part of two of the three most capped centre partnerships in Springboks history with Jesse Kriel (41 games) and Lukhanyo Am (28).
However, on Saturday, Erasmus is giving us a look into the future of the Bok midfield with Hooker and Moodie starting at 12 and 13, respectively. The former has enjoyed a stunning breakout season at the highest level and has racked up six Test caps, earning his first start against the All Blacks in Wellington.
The 22-year-old has featured mostly on the wing for the Boks, but it’s quite clear that his future lies in the centres.
Due to the presence of Esterhuizen, Am and Jurenzo Julius at the Sharks, Hooker has played a lot of his rugby on the wing, and while he has thrived in that role, he played much of his junior rugby in the centres and now gets the opportunity to impress in his natural role in Green and Gold.
Similarly, Moodie has also been primed to eventually make the permanent switch to midfield in international rugby, having started as a teenager on the wing.
Negotiations over the future of Erasmus and his coaching team will resume after the November internationals, but that hasn’t stopped the head coach from giving possibly the next 30+ Bok centre combination its debut and against formidable opponents.
Apart from De Allende and Kriel, there isn’t a tier one midfield combo that is more tried, tested and settled than Italy’s Nacho Brex and Tommaso Menoncello. The duo have a nigh-on telepathic connection, ironed out through years of playing side-by-side at Benetton and the Azzurri before the former made the move to Toulon this season.
Erasmus is not just giving the Hooker-Moodie debut its first shot in the limelight, but is giving them a real litmus test against one of the best of the best.
Rugby World Cup prep
After announcing his squad for the November internationals, Erasmus has since lost the services of Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Ox Nche and Lood de Jager, but has called in just one replacement in the form of tighthead prop Asenathi Ntlabakanye.
This means that the squad has been trimmed down to 33, the exact number of a Rugby World Cup squad. Asked whether he would be bringing in a replacement for the recently banned De Jager, Erasmus explained that the veteran second rower is still able to train with the squad and no cover will be called in as South Africa use this match as a ‘dry run’ for 2027.
It’s a smart ploy from the Bok coaching staff as they will have limited opportunities to do so again before they have to board the plane to Australia in two years’ time.
Looking over the squad, there is plenty of positional versatility, which will be put to the test against the Azzurri and next week against Wales. Things never really go to plan at World Cups; Kriel and Trevor Nyakane’s injuries in 2019 and Malcolm Marx’s in 2023 proving perfect examples of such.
De Jager remaining with the squad but being unable to play simulates a forward sustaining a short-term injury or even a suspension during the tournament, while the set-up of the bench is bound to be repeated in one or two 2027 pool games.
Additionally, Esterhuizen’s role as a hybrid player effectively gives the Boks a 5-3 or a 6-2 split. Depending on how the game unfolds, it surely won’t be long before we see him actually start a Test match in the pack.
Versatility has always been crucial in World Cup squads, and that won’t change for 2027, but with a player like Esterhuizen, Erasmus is afforded the flexibility to load up in specialist positions if he wishes to do so.
The hooker gamble
One specialist position where he might not load up on is at hooker with Van Staden tasked with covering the front row role, much like Schalk Brits did in 2019 and Deon Fourie four years later.
Unlike the aforementioned pair, the 30-year-old Van Staden’s first real taste of playing in the front row came at the highest level as he shifted to hooker in the World Cup pool match against Tonga.
Since then, the Boks have tasked the Bulls forward with honing the skills required to fulfil the requirements of the usually specialist position. During every match’s warm-up, he is seen throwing lineout darts and often shifts to the hooker role in the scrums.
It’s plainly obvious that if possible, the coaching staff don’t see value in three players of the 33 filling just one position and see Van Staden as the next generation of hooker-back rower hybrid.
The question remains, is it worth risking a second-ever defeat to Italy to determine whether or not Van Staden can get the job in this role, particularly when a new centre pairing is being tested too? The answer is perhaps another question; if not now, then when? Next year, the Nations Championship is set to begin and right after that the Greatest Rivalry Series takes centre stage.
The Azzurri provide a real challenge and a true litmus test not only for Van Staden but for Grobbelaar too, who has yet to really stamp his mark enough to be a regular member of the squad.
Ireland auditions
While we’d expect largely the same matchday 23 that defeated France to face off against Ireland in Dublin next weekend, there are certainly opportunities to press claims.
Eben Etzebeth is bound to feature in some shape or form, but with Snyman set to earn his 50th Test cap and De Jager banned, does Eramus give Etzebeth and Snyman a rare start together? Or can Mostert and Kleyn force their way into the mix? Perhaps we even see the old Munster combination of Kleyn and Snyman start, and that’s not forgetting Nortje, who was superb against France and has been in every match in Green and Gold this year.
Erasmus is known for throwing in a surprise or two, even for a big Test match, with the Wellington clash against the All Blacks being a prime example of that. If Hooker and Moodie thrive against the Azzurri, could they be tasked with claiming the first win over Ireland in Dublin since 2014? That would be a bold call, but the Bok boss has never shied away from those.
Van Staden could also play his way into the number 16 jersey, depending on how many minutes he actually gets at hooker in Turin. There is further interest in the front row with Porthen earning his second cap at tighthead prop. The young Stormer shone against Japan and could be tasked with tackling Ireland, allowing Thomas du Toit to shift to loosehead; that is very much an option with Venter starting back-to-back matches.
Smith also missed the clash against France, but could cement his place on the bench with a big shift against a breakdown aggressive outfit like Italy.
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