Rassie dissects Boks' depth chart
INTERVIEW: Springbok head coach Rassie Erasmus analysed the Springboks’ current depth chart in positions where they were thin at the start of the season.
Ahead of the 2026 Nations Championship and Greatest Rivalry series, there were serious concerns regarding the availability of several players who were sidelined whilst on duty for their respective clubs/franchises.
At one stage, it was feared that Malcolm Marx, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Lood de Jager, Eben Etzebeth, Morne van den Berg, Cobus Reinach, Grant Williams, Ethan Hooker and Aphelele Fassi would miss the majority of the two tournaments.
Fortunately, all these players recovered in time and played an instrumental role in the Boks’ cause to go unbeaten during the Nations Championship and go up 2-1 in the RGR series, with the two exceptions of Bok regulars Kwagga Smith and RG Snyman, who is ruled out for the entire season.
This forced Erasmus to experiment in positions during the Nations Championship and blood new players in the non-international match against the Barbarians and the SA ‘A’ clash against the Zimbabwe Sables – an investment which could still pay off in the long run.
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Erasmus explained how he managed the situation, especially at lock and scrumhalf and what the current bill of health looks like across the board.
“We’ve been depleted in certain areas at some stage when Kwagga [Smith], RG [Snyman], Lood [de Jager], Franco Mostert, Eben [Etzebeth] and Salmaan [Moerat] were all injured,” Erasmus said during the team announcement press conference on Monday.
“We were down to Riley Norton, and Ben-Jason [Dixon] started playing lock; now we’re in a healthy position.
“RG will be back early next year; Salmaan, who I saw recently, is off to France [La Rochelle] and he’ll start playing in a month and a half’s time.
“On the other side, Ruan [Nortje] established himself as one of our solid No.5 locks who can play at the highest level.
“It also helped to give a guy like Ben-Jason a chance or two at lock, and we gave Cobus Wiese a run there.
“Luckily, now most of the older guys are injury-free, and the three locks who are playing this weekend.
“Franco Mostert is actually also available for this game; we’ll probably give him a run against Australia. The lock position was a big worry.”
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The Bok boss added: “At scrumhalf we weren’t too sure how Cobus [Reinach’s] legs would hold up, but he’s still doing the job at 35 years old.
“We had a look-in at Faf [de Klerk]; we know where he is in his game whilst he’s playing for the Cheetahs.
“We have three proper flyhalves with Damian [Willemse], who can also slot in at No.10 – a guy like Quan Horn is coming through at fullback with [Aphelele] Fassi, and we gave Embrose [Papier] a run.
“I don’t think there’s an area where we’re in trouble – I think we’re doing okay.”
