Springboks team: Winners and losers including the victim of Rassie Erasmus’ ‘brutal decision’ while Cape Town stars are rewarded
Springboks Damian Willemse, Jesse Kriel, Cheslin Kolbe and head coach Rassie Erasmus.
Following the announcement of Rassie Erasmus’ matchday 23 for the Springboks’ clash with the All Blacks at the FNB Stadium in Soweto, here are our winners and losers.
The head coach has once again gone early with revealing his team as the two nations collide in the crunch third Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Test match.
Winners
Record-breaking loose trio
Throughout the history of Springboks rugby, there have been some incredible loose forward combinations, and on Saturday the combination of Siya Kolisi, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Jasper Wiese will sit at the summit of the lot.
In Soweto, the trio will break the record for the most Test match starts as a combination, lining up in the same back row for the 18th time after equalling the bar set by Francois Louw, Willem Alberts and Duane Vermeulen.
It’s a particularly special occasion for Du Toit and Kolisi, who starred in what will be the third most-capped combination, along with Vermeulen, with the duo starring in the trio that won back-to-back World Cups. This stat illustrates that under Rassie Erasmus‘ tenure, when a loose trio works, he sticks by it.
Kurt-Lee Arendse
The victim of Erasmus’ tinkering last week is a winner this week as Kurt-Lee Arendse is again named in the Springboks’ starting lineup on Monday. He will be hoping that he hangs onto the jersey for the third Test match after the coaching staff opted to remove him from the matchday 23 when it became clear that Cheslin Kolbe would fit for the meeting in Cape Town.
It was a brutal but effective decision as Kolbe played a crucial role in levelling the series, slotting seven from seven kicks at goal in a man of the match performance.
Arendse also had to watch as Ethan Hooker enjoyed a fantastic match against the All Blacks. Arendse remains a world-class talent in his own right and will be eager to remind the coaching staff of precisely that on Saturday.
Rassie Erasmus
Heading into the Test series, both coaches warned about the toll that the four games would have on the playing group, but ahead of the Soweto showdown, Erasmus has been afforded the opportunity to make just one change to his matchday 23.
All in all, he will have utilised 30 players by the first whistle on Saturday, if he hasn’t made changes by then, with many of those alterations from the first team selection being tactical decisions. A fit-again Siya Kolisi replaced Paul de Villiers after Johannesburg; the same was true for Lood de Jager’s swap with Cobus Wiese, while Hooker effectively replaced Arendse.
Cameron Hanekom, Thomas du Toit and Deon Fourie were simply preferred over Marco van Staden, Zach Porthen, and Jan-Hendrik Wessels.
Sure, there are injuries in the Springboks camp, but Damian Willemse’s setback is the only one that has come in-game.
Cheslin Kolbe
Kolbe’s accuracy from the tee has made him an even more valuable asset to the Springboks coaching team, who are leaning on his skillset even more this weekend. Not only will he have the kicking tee at the home of the Kaizer Chiefs, but he has been entrusted with filling Willemse’s void at full-back.
While the double World Cup-winning hot-stepper routinely features in the number 15 jersey at club level, this will be just the third time that he lines up in the position for the men in Green and Gold, having done so previously against Ireland and Japan, with South Africa losing the former 16-19 at the Aviva Stadium in 2022 and winning the latter 61-7 last November at Wembley.
The 32-year-old is one of the most talented players in the world, but it’s obvious that the Springboks prefer him on the wing. However, this weekend they will be hoping that he can influence the game in the same manner from further in the backfield.
Ethan Hooker
After struggling with injuries, Hooker returned to the Springboks jersey with a bang, producing a fantastic performance on the wing where he dominated the aerial battle and wreaked havoc for the All Blacks’ backfield.
When Kolbe was passed fit for the game on Friday last week, Erasmus opted to retain Hooker in the starting XV instead of Arendse and his performance in Cape Town surely influenced the make-up of the back-three this week as the coaching team could have easily reinstated the Arendse-Kolbe wing combo that has performed in big matches time and time again with another player coming in at full-back.
But the Sharks youngster has clearly earned his selection and forced the coaches’ hands.
Deon Fourie
Cape Town Stadium erupted on Saturday evening when Fourie, one of the city’s favourite sons and the oldest Springbok of all time, departed the pitch.
Erasmus’ late selection twist meant that Fourie started the encounter at hooker instead of coming off the bench, but this time around, he looks set to don the number 16 jersey, the same one he wore in the 2023 Rugby World Cup final.
The soon-to-be 40-year-old was immense in his 35-odd minute shift at hooker and continues to defy the odds as he extends the same record that broke last weekend.
Losers
Damian Willemse
A cruel, cruel blow for Willemse. The Springboks utility back has been in incredible form, particularly in Green and Gold since these two nations met in Wellington last year.
It would not be outrageous to suggest that he was perhaps even in the running as a possible nominee for the 2026 World Rugby Player of the Year. While Willemse offers cover at fly-half, centre and even wing for the Boks, he has been nothing short of sensational at full-back this year and his absence is a hammer blow even if the brilliant Kolbe fills his void in the 15 jersey.
The 28-year-old double World Cup winner has been sublime under the high ball and while his services will be missed in the Soweto skies, Erasmus has confirmed that he is in contention to play the series finale in Baltimore. Willemse sustained a grade one hamstring injury in the latter stages of the first half of the Test match in Cape Town, meaning that he is likely to recover in time for the fourth meeting between the teams.
Paul de Villiers
2026 has been a breakout year for De Villiers, who earned his first appearance in Green and Gold coming off the bench against the Barbarians. He went on to make his official Test debut against England in the opening Nations Championship match following the withdrawal of Kolisi and held onto the number six jumper for the games that followed against Scotland and Wales.
However, when Kolisi was fit again, De Villiers dropped out of the matchday 23 entirely for the meeting with Argentina but was brought back again as the Bok skipper’s filler for the first Test of the Greatest Rivalry series.
It’s a catch-22 right now for the Stormers star, who is clearly being lined up as a possible successor to the double World Cup-winning captain, which means that if Kolisi is fit, De Villiers isn’t playing but he is the go-to man when he is unavailable.
The former Junior Boks skipper has taken to international rugby like a duck to water, with his biggest crime so far being that he isn’t Kolisi.
Jan-Hendrik Wessels and Zach Porthen
Entrusted with bench roles in the first Test match, Wessels and Porthen have been shunted to the sidelines for the second and third. The reasons for that were plainly obvious, as South Africa lost dominance in the scrums when they were on the pitch in the meeting at Ellis Park and have duly paid the price.
Wessels, 25, and Porthen, 22, are still incredibly young for international front-rowers and are bound to play crucial roles in the years to come, but Test No.1 was a reminder that young front-rowers can be exposed at this level.
What Erasmus does have in the duo are versatile and modern-day front-rowers who are incredibly mobile. We have not seen the last of them, far from it.
Johan Grobbelaar
The return to fitness of the evergreen Fourie has pushed the consistent Johan Grobbelaar even further down the pecking order. The 28-year-old was released to the Bulls for their meeting against the All Blacks, where he came off the bench and made a real impact but not enough to convince the coaching staff that he deserved a Test spot.
It’s a recurring theme for Grobbelaar in the Bok fold, as every time it looks as if he could become a regular feature in the squad, the coaching team explores other options.
Joseph Dweba was one of them, behind Malcolm Marx and Bongi Mbonambi, and when he left for overseas, the Boks turned to Grobbelaar. Last year, he was omitted from the initial squad, with Wessels and Marnus van der Merwe preferred, but he earned a recall later in the year.
He isn’t completely out of the selection frame, but this does feel like another setback.
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Aphelele Fassi and Quan Horn
With Willemse sidelined, Erasmus had two players who play the majority of their club rugby at full-back to pick from in the form of Aphelele Fassi and Quan Horn, but he has opted to shift Kolbe to 15 and select Arendse instead.
Kolbe is no stranger to the position, having also started there several times for the multiple clubs that he has represented throughout his career, but Fassi and Horn can still feel hard done by.
There is method to the selection, though, as Fassi has hardly been at his best for the Boks, having played against Scotland, Wales and Argentina. He missed a large chunk of the Sharks’ season through injury and hasn’t hit the form that saw him lock in the number 15 jersey in Willemse’s absence in 2024 and at times the following year.
As for Horn, it’s clear that the Springboks coaching team rate the Lions back highly, having started him at fly-half against the Baa-Baas before giving him a run off the bench against Scotland.
However, he is still just in the infancy stage of his international career, boasting just two Test caps, so playing him in the biggest game since the Rugby World Cup final in Paris three years ago is a gamble and too big of one for Erasmus and co.
Handre Pollard
Slated to start the second Test in Cape Town, Handre Pollard was forced to withdraw through injury and he remains unavailable for the third Test in Soweto this weekend. The conditions in Cape Town, paired with the series being in the balance, screamed for Pollard’s inclusion, and Erasmus duly reacted before injury spoiled his plans.
Assistant coach Mzwandile Stick described Pollard as being tearful in training when confirming his injury, and that’s completely understandable. These are the kind of matches that the veteran pivot produces his absolute best and games he craves. The only shining light is that he remains in contention for the final match after missing this one through injury.
Canan Moodie
Like Pollard, Canan Moodie is understood to be only in contention for the final game of the series after missing the first three due to injury. Erasmus has openly admitted that he wished he had the Bulls’ man at his disposal, as he wanted to trial him and Hooker in the centres against Argentina.
The duo are both also comfortable on the wings and one has to wonder after the success Hooker had out wide in Cape Town, whether Erasmus would have liked to have gone with two taller, more abrasive wingers this weekend with Kolbe shifting to full-back.