Rassie on the significance of Paris and Dublin face-offs

TWO matches on South Africa’s year-end tour loom large, like World Cup play-offs.

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus, on Monday, named a 36-man squad for the five-Test trip that will see them take on Japan, France, Italy, Ireland and Wales.

The Japan game, on November 1, has been set up for the Japan-based Boks, who have been inactive since the conclusion of the Rugby Championship in early October, as well as some of the players returning from injury.

With some players having already been thrown in at the deep end of the Rugby Championship, to see how they cope in a high-pressure environment, the year-end tour matches against France and Ireland could be used to test players in pressure matches ahead of the 2027 World Cup in Australia.

“Those matches could be like a semi-final and Final situation, to see if we can be successful on the year-end tour,” Erasmus said of teams they faced in the run to their 2023 World Cup success.

The Bok coach said he wants to get through this year first, then maybe next year start looking towards the World Cup.

“It is still a long way off,” he added.

Looking ahead at the tour, Erasmus admitted that while it would be challenging given the quality of the opposition they will be facing, the team was eager to get back on the field.

“It’s a longer tour than usual and we are facing top-class opposition, but we are looking forward to it,” said Erasmus.

“Ireland and France are currently ranked third and fourth in the world, while Italy, Wales, and Japan are in 10th, 12th and 13th place, and we’ve seen in the last few years that you cannot write off any team.

“Ireland and France are always tough opposition, and they both won four out of their five Six Nations matches, with France emerging as the eventual champions, and we know how challenging it is to beat them both at home.

“Japan have beaten us before, Italy put up a good fight against us earlier this year in Pretoria, and Wales beat Japan, proving that they are again on an upward trajectory, so it’s going to be a challenging tour.

“We have delivered a few good performances but also a few disappointing ones this season, so this will be a good opportunity to test ourselves and see if we can build consistency from week to week.

“That said, it is going to take a massive effort, and we are excited about the tour.”

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— Rugby365 (@rugby365com) October 20, 2025