Springboks team: Winners and losers as Rassie Erasmus sticks to his word while ‘slandered’ half-back is rewarded after Soweto heroics
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Morne van den Berg and Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus.
Following the announcement of Rassie Erasmus’ Springboks team for the final Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Test match against the All Blacks, here are our winners and losers.
The Boks head coach has stuck with the winning formula from the past two encounters with New Zealand, making just two changes to the starting XV that beat Dave Rennie’s men at the FNB Stadium in Soweto last weekend. One of those changes has been injury-enforced, with the other being a straight swap of jerseys.
So without further ado, here are our winners and losers from Erasmus selections.
Winners
Morne van den Berg
Springboks fans tend to make up their minds on players incredibly quickly, and once they have, it’s even harder to change that perspective. After eight appearances in Green and Gold, many had made up their mind on Morne van den Berg as he fell victim to this trend.
In fact, criticism of his pedigree has been evident at the Lions too, with many questioning why he is backed in the starting XV ahead of former Junior Boks superstar Haashim Pead. While he may not have had the buy-in from the supporters, he did have the backing of the Springboks coaching team, and his performance off the bench at the FNB Stadium proved why.
The 28-year-old replaced Cobus Reinach early in the second-half of the encounter, at a time when the game was very much in the balance – it was a brave call from the coaching team, but one they reaped the benefits from as Van den Berg produced arguably his finest performance in the Green and Gold. Known as Krappies in the squad, there is a pocket of fans who refer to him as Faf Lite, and he certainly delivered a Faf de Klerk-esque shift. His clearance and box kicks were a major upgrade on Reinach’s in the match, while his repeated defensive efforts were a real standout in his game. So was his service to Manie Libbok and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
It was the kind of shift that prompted many fans to issue apologies on social media for ‘slander’ they threw his way in the past and perhaps the kind of performance that will, at the very least, limit the amount of ‘What has Embrose Papier or Haashim Pead have to do to convince Rassie that they are better than Morne’ comments. Van den Berg is clearly the biggest winner this week as he earns his fifth start in Green and Gold and his first against the All Blacks, and rightly so after turning the tide in the third Test.
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu
Van den Berg’s half-back partner is also a big winner this week, but for an entirely different reason. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu is a generational talent; there is no doubting that, but his form at the moment hasn’t really justified him starting four back-to-back Tests for the Springboks. The initial selection for the meeting in Cape Town suggests that Erasmus felt the same, as the 24-year-old was dropped to the bench, with Handre Pollard preferred in the number 10 jumper.
Pollard had to withdraw from the encounter due to injury, which meant that Feinberg-Mngomezulu retained the starting role, which he has kept for the rest of the series. Still, the Stormers man wasn’t at his best in the Mother City, and in Soweto he was, quite frankly, lucky not to be red-carded after his ruck infringement before Ardie Savea scored his second try, or when he tackled Will Jordan in the air.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu has played a fair amount at full-back during Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry, with Libbok coming on to replace Damian Willemse and Cheslin Koble following their injuries in Tests Two and Three, and it’s hard to argue against him being deserving of a start for the fourth game. It would have been just reward for his performances to date, but Feinberg-Mngomezulu is a player that the Boks rightly hold in high regard and are willing to give him the opportunity to play himself into form.
Damian Willemse
Damian Willemse was in World Rugby Player of the Year nominee-esque form before injury struck in the second Test match, and thankfully for him and the Springboks, that setback was a short one as he returns to start the fourth game.
“Damian started the first two Tests and had it not been for a niggle last week, he would have also started that match, so it’s good to have him back. He is a quality player, and he knows the guys around him very well, so it will simply be a matter of him picking up where he left off before last week,” Erasmus said in a statement naming the team.
The double World Cup winner is comfortably one of the best full-backs in the world, and his rapid recovery cannot be understated, particularly after Kolbe’s injury and Aphelele Fassi struggling to find form.
Deon Fourie
Last week, Erasmus stated that the Springboks wouldn’t be ‘throwing’ older players away if they continue to produce in the Green and Gold jersey. He said that in reference to Siya Kolisi, but it certainly applies to the oldest Bok of all time, Deon Fourie.
“There are a few players with a bright future, but we can’t just throw players away because they are getting older, especially if they are producing like Siya produces every bloody game – and he is captain,” Erasmus said before the crunch third Test.
And the continued selection of Fourie this series is a clear indicator that the head coach means it. The almost 40-year-old put in a tidy shift in Cape Town and backed it up in Soweto, where his impact on the side of the scrum and at hooker was telling in the final result.
It’s crystal clear that the Boks need to develop whoever is going to be Malcolm Marx’s back-up going forward, but right now Fourie is producing and is likely to continue to do so. We got a hint of this during the anthem, as the veteran forward was still tearful while lining up for his 14th cap for South Africa – just like he was for his first back in 2022.
Rassie Erasmus
As World Cup preparations go, Erasmus could not have asked for a better series. The All Blacks are vastly improved this year compared to 2025 under Scott Robertson, as Dave Rennie’s side has been incredibly competitive in all three matches to this point despite their set-piece woes.
The Boks head coach has admitted that he planned to tinker with his team throughout the series, but since winning in Cape Town, he has been consistent in his selections instead. Perhaps the last time South Africa did this was during the 2023 Rugby World Cup, where the same team that beat France in the quarter-final then faced England a week later.
“We feel that the team is well settled and all the players delivered in their respective roles in the last two matches, so we believe selecting the same matchday squad, and naming Damian back in his regular position, makes sense for the closing match of the series,” said Erasmus.
“These players also know exactly what to expect from a very determined All Blacks team, who will give everything to draw the series this weekend.”
It’s a change of tack from the Springboks but a necessary one according to the coaching team, who are clearly convinced that cohesion and stability in selection are needed against this All Blacks side. It’s a tip of the hat to what Rennie has been able to achieve in his short time in charge of the team.
Erasmus is also rather fortunate that he has been able to back pretty much the same crop of players for these three Tests, with a few exceptions, considering the sheer brutality of the encounters to date.
Losers
Cheslin Kolbe
It’s a real shame that Cheslin Kolbe misses the final Test through injury, considering his form and influence over the series in the first three matches. His goal-kicking was pivotal in the second, while he was still a standout in the defeat in the series opener. His game was cut cruelly short at the FNB Stadium, where the early signs pointed to another classy performance.
However, his shift was halted as he got his tackle on Luke Jacobson all wrong, with the All Blacks flanker’s knee clattering into the Bok flyer’s jaw, breaking and ending Kolbe’s involvement.
Kurt-Lee Arendse and Ethan Hooker are sterling wingers while Willemse is a world-class full-back, but like Ardie Savea for the All Blacks, Kolbe is a hugely influential player who will be missed in Baltimore.
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Handre Pollard
Primed to start the second Test against the All Blacks, Handre Pollard was forced to withdraw through injury and was available for selection this week but has been overlooked in favour of Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Libbok.
The 32-year-old has played just twice in Green and Gold this year, producing a man of the match performance against Scotland before coming off the bench and guiding the Boks to a narrow 17-10 victory over Argentina before the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series.
Erasmus confirmed that they could have ‘probably’ picked Pollard this week, but the coaching team has backed cohesion and consistency, and unfortunately so for the veteran.
Manie Libbok
There is no shame in being named on the Springboks bench with Erasmus creating a real sense of pride in being a member of the ‘Bomb Squad’, but Manie Libbok would have really fancied his chances of grabbing the number 10 jersey this weekend.
His outings so far in the series were certainly deserving of an inclusion in the starting lineup, but he will have to do with another shift off the bench. The Bok head coach pointed to Feinberg-Mngomezulu’s defensive excellence as one of the deciding factors, as Rennie’s side have benefitted from fast starts.
While he might be disappointed not to be in the run-on team, he will relish the opportunity to stamp his mark when the game opens up a bit in the latter stages of the game.
Overlooked Springboks
Pollard is not alone, as there is a plethora of players who didn’t get the opportunity to feature in the Test series against the All Blacks, namely: Carlu Sadie, Boan Venter, Johan Grobbelaar, Ben-Jason Dixon, Elrigh Louw, Franco Mostert, Vincent Tshituka, Herschel Jantjies, Vusi Moyo, Aphelele Fassi, Quan Horn, Canan Moodie, and Edwill van der Merwe.
It was always going to be a stretch for Moyo in particular, with the young fly-half behind the likes of Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Pollard, and Libbok, so he won’t be too disappointed and will have lapped up the opportunity to be in the squad throughout the series. He still got the chance to face the All Blacks for the first time, featuring for the Sharks in the tour match, but many of his peers weren’t afforded the same opportunity, including flanker Vincent Tshituka.
Johan Grobbelaar and Elrigh Louw donned the Bulls jersey against the All Blacks while Boan Venter and Quan Horn did the same for the Lions, but the quartet would have all fancied their chances of cracking the Test team but ultimately fell short.
Then there are the likes of Carlu Sadie, Ben-Jason Dixon, Franco Mostert, Herschel Jantjies, Aphelele Fassi, Canan Moodie, and Edwill van der Merwe, who were all restricted to being training squad members for the Springboks throughout Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry, with injuries and selection preference denying them the opportunity.
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