Springboks team: When Rassie Erasmus will name his first matchday 23 for 2026
Cheslin Kolbe scores against the Barbarians in 2025 and an inset of Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus.
The Springboks’ 2026 season officially kicks off this weekend with a double header in Gqeberha.
South Africa ‘A’ will host the Zimbabwe Sables at 12 pm (local time) at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium before the Springboks collide with the Barbarians at 3 pm.
It’s the second time that the Boks begin their season with a clash against the Baa-Baas in South Africa after they defeated the famous invitational team 54–7 at the DHL Stadium in Cape Town last year. That was the Barbarians’ first-ever fixture in South Africa.
When Rassie Erasmus will name his Springboks team
SA Rugby has confirmed that Boks assistant coach Mzwandile Stick will take the head coach duties for the SA ‘A’ team against Zimbabwe – a match that will ‘capture’ any uncapped South African players who participate to the Boks.
Stick and Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus will name their respective matchday 23s for the double header on Tuesday, 16 June at around 3 pm.
Erasmus named a 51-man squad for the matches earlier this month, which included 21 uncapped players, but the squad has ballooned since then. Phepsi Buthelezi and Carlu Sadie took the number to 53, while Ruben van Heerden came in for the injured Salmaan Moerat and Adre Smith was added on Sunday.
“It was great to be back in camp this week and for the coaches to work with the players first-hand on and off the field,” said Erasmus last week.
“It was also good to see the enthusiasm and willingness of the players to learn from the coaches, and for both the experienced and young players to get back into the swing of things with the season around the corner.”
Erasmus added: “Kevin Foote (Junior Springbok coach) and Dave Wessels (SA Rugby’s High-Performance Department GM) have done a fine job in developing the young players and we are grateful for their co-operation and constant communication for us to work together to have these players in camp.
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“I have no doubt the guys have already and will continue to learn a lot in our set-up, and we believe this exposure will benefit them as they continue to grow as players.
“We will go into more detail next week, but we ticked most of the boxes we had hoped to over the last few days, and we are looking forward to getting into match mode from next week.”
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Gqeberha double-header fixtures
South Africa A v Zimbabwe Stables
Date: Saturday, 20 June, 2026
Venue: Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Gqeberha
Kick-off: 12:00 (local SAST), 11:00 (UK), 12:00 (France), 12:00 (South Africa), 20:00 (AEST), 22:00 (New Zealand), 07:00 (Argentina), 19:00 (JST), 06:00 (EDT)
Match officials: TBC
Broadcasters: SuperSport (South Africa)
South Africa v Barbarians
Date: Saturday, 20 June, 2026
Venue: Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Gqeberha
Kick-off: 15:00 (local SAST), 14:00 (UK), 15:00 (France), 15:00 (South Africa), 23:00 (AEST), 01:00 (21 June, New Zealand), 10:00 (Argentina), 22:00 (JST), 09:00 (EDT)
Referee: Morné Ferreira (SARU)
Assistant Referees: Griffin Colby (SARU), Hanru van Rooyen (SARU)
TMO: Marius van der Westhuizen (SARU)
FPRO: Marius Jonker (SARU)
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Updated 54-man Springboks squad for SA’A and Barbarians
Forwards: Phepsi Buthelezi, Lood de Jager, Paul de Villiers, Ben-Jason Dixon, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Eben Etzebeth, Neethling Fouche, Bathobele Hlekani, Hanro Jacobs, Vincent Koch, Siya Kolisi, JJ Kotze, Danie Kruger, Sibabalwa Mahashe, Malcolm Marx, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Siphosethu Mnebelele, Franco Mostert, Ox Nche, Riley Norton, Zachary Porthen, Oliver Reid, Evan Roos, Carlu Sadie, Adre Smith, Emmanuel Tshituka, Vincent Tshituka, Ruben van Heerden Liam van Wyk, Andre-Hugo Venter, Boan Venter, Jasper Wiese
Backs: Yaqeen Ahmed, Lukhanyo Am, Damian de Allende, Faf de Klerk, Andre Esterhuizen, Aphelele Fassi, Luan Giliomee, Quan Horn, Jurenzo Julius, Imad Khan, Cheslin Kolbe, Jesse Kriel, Manie Libbok, Vusi Moyo, Markus Muller, Haashim Pead, Zekhethelo Siyaya, Nico Steyn, Edwill van der Merwe, Damian Willemse, Grant Williams, Jaco Williams
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