Bok bouquets and brickbats

Just weeks away from the five-match year-end tour, now is as good a time as any to hand out some bouquets and brickbats.

The year 2025 has been a roller-coaster, the proverbial good, bad and the ugly.

South Africa has bookmarked the year-end Tests against France and Ireland, but they can’t afford to underestimate Japan, Italy and Wales.

For this obiter dictum, I am going to ignore the June encounter with the Barbarians in Cape Town.

It was a non-cap ‘international’.

It started with mid-year wins over Italy (42-24 and 45-0), and Georgia (55-10).

It left the Boks undercooked going into the Rugby Championship, while the ongoing exploratory selections contributed to the horror show at Ellis Park, a 22-38 loss to Australia. They reversed that with a 30-22 win a week later.

Then followed the heartbreak in Auckland, the 17-24 loss to New Zealand and the 43-10 record rout of the All Blacks in Wellington a week later.

Argentina (67-30 and 29-27 wins) did not trouble the Boks much, even though the Twickenham scoreline earlier this month suggests a close call.

Against that background, I will hand out some individual bouquets and brickbats.

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The big winners

Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu

To appropriate that 1980 song by Mango Groove, he is truly a Special Star! Raw, maybe, but the polish will come.

The two games that epitomise both his potential and imperfections are the last two Tests, against Argentina.

There was the near flawless match-winning and record-breaking showing in the 67-30 win at Kings Park in Durban, 37 points – three tries, eight conversions and two penalties. It was a display of his individual brilliance.

It was contrasted by the struggling game at Twickenham a week later, when Manie Libbok replaced him in the second half. Perhaps it was all the hype of the previous week’s performance, but glimpses of navel-gazing. Bok coach Rassie Erasmus may well already have reminded him that rugby is a team game.

He is still a winner!

Ruan Nortjé

One of the biggest rising stars in the Bok set-up this year. The 27-year-old is shaping up to be one of the key players at the 2027 World Cup, in a position where injury and age can play some cruel tricks on the Boks.

After not featuring in the loss to Australia at Ellis Park, he was a starter and played 44 minutes in the Cape Town win a week later, played 50 minutes as a starter in the Auckland loss and the full 80 in the Wellington rout. He finished the Rugby Championship by playing the full 80 minutes in both Tests against Argentina.

His line-out prowess and high workrate are what makes him a perfect partner for Eben Etzebeth, with RG Snyman, Franco Mostert and Lood de Jager showing the real depth in the second row.

Ethan Hooker

The find of the year! His debut may have been against Italy in July, but it was in the last four outings that he grabbed his opportunities with both hands.

In Auckland, he came off the bench for Handre Pollard, but he started in Wellington and both Tests against Argentina.

His ability and calmness under the high ball, as well as his raw pace and power, means we will see a lot more of him in Green and Gold.

Jan-Hendrik Wessels

Rassie Erasmus does not hide his predisposition to select utility players.

And he has been used routinely as both a hooker and a loosehead prop.

It is his mobility and power that make the 24-year-old, still maturing, front row forward such a valuable asset.

Malcolm Marx

The comeback of the year!

The 31-year-old looked a pale shadow of the player who was rated the best hooker in the world before his cruel injury setback at the 2023 World Cup.

Marx, despite starting in eight of the nine Tests this year, looked circumspect until Durban.

It was a week later at Twickenham where we saw another classic Marx performance – where his 10 carries produced 30-odd metres, he made 10 tackles, won most turnovers in the game and scored two tries.

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The big losers

Salmaan Moerat

Not everybody’s cup of tea, but coach Rassie Erasmus sees value in him.

However, after leading the Boks to a 45-0 whitewash of Italy in Port Elizabeth, he returned to his franchise and suffered a serious knee injury.

The latest dispatches from Cape Town suggest he will be lucky to play before December.

In his absence, other locks have cemented their second row places.

Asenathi Ntlabakanye

So much promise. Such a waste.

His ongoing doping saga seems to have impacted his form, and last week in the loss against Zebre in Parma, he made just eight metres with seven carries, repeatedly being tackled back.

He was also penalised twice at scrum time, something unheard of before.

He is in serious need of an ‘intervention’ to get him back in Bok form, if he is not banned.

Evan Roos

Still a crowd favourite, but seems to have slipped way down the Bok No.8 pecking order.

While the coach, Erasmus, has been diplomatic when confronted with the stream of Roos questions, the non-selection of the 25-year-old says a lot more than the Bok boss would ever admit.

Yes, he is a stalwart in the Stormers set-up and valuable to their cause in the URC and Europe.

However, perhaps that is his ceiling. Or he could prove me wrong.

Cobus Wiese

The hard-luck story of the season.

Having worked himself into the Bok frame, he made his debut against Italy and featured alongside brother Jasper in the matchday squad.

The next week, he started at No.8, his big break.

A cruel injury put a stop to his progress, and while he returned for the Bulls in the URC, a head knock was the latest spanner in the works.

Willie le Roux

His critics will tell you he is past his sell-by date.

And that is all based on a first-half horror show at Eden Park, in Auckland.

His recent performances for the Bulls suggest there are still some miles left yet in those 36-year-old legs.

However, it might be a long, hard slog back to the Bok squad.

@rugby365com