Rassie’s faith in youth and innovation bodes well for testing tour

OPINION: Rassie Erasmus has selected a potent mix of players with the marquee tour fixtures against France and Ireland as well as South Africa’s World Cup plans in mind.

Erasmus has made some brutal yet necessary squad cuts in recent months, and has endeavoured to give younger players more opportunities in the big matches staged during the July Test window and in the more recent Rugby Championship.

On Monday, the Bok coach named a 36-man squad for the Tests against Japan, France, Italy, Ireland and Wales this November.

As many expected, there were several high-profile omissions.

Ageing veterans such as fullback Willie le Roux, scrumhalf Faf de Klerk and tighthead prop Vincent Koch have not made the cut, while another two senior statesmen in Bongi Mbonambi and Makazole Mapimpi have been placed on standby.

The uncapped Zachary Porthen is among a growing contingent of youngbloods that includes Ethan Hooker, Canan Moodie, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, and Jan Hendrik-Wessels – all of whom are 24 or younger.

Erasmus has also recalled several more players who have featured for the Boks over the past two seasons yet have relatively few Test caps – namely Edwill van der Merwe, Jean Kleyn, Johan Grobbelaar, and Gerhard Steenekamp.

Kurt-Lee Arendse, one of the stars of the successful 2023 World Cup campaign, is back in the mix after missing most of the Rugby Championship through injury.

That said, Erasmus has retained a large core of senior players and double World Cup-winners.

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#SquadAnnouncement: Double World Cup winner axed to Springboks’ standby list 👇#Springboks #SouthAfrica #RassieErasmus https://t.co/l5sRuTXtFg

— Rugby365 (@rugby365com) October 20, 2025

It’s safe to say that the Boks will head to Europe with the quality and experience needed to edge the likes of France and Ireland on their home turf.

It promises to be a fascinating tour, and knowing Erasmus, he will rotate his squad while gunning for a perfect five-from-five win record.

There’s no chance of Erasmus fielding the same matchday 23 on five consecutive weekends, given the physical and mental demands of these Tests, and the fact that several players based at European clubs – Thomas du Toit, RG Snyman and Kleyn – will be unavailable for the matches outside the Test window, against Japan on 1 November and against Wales on the 29th.

So how will Erasmus go about managing his 36-man group over the five matches, knowing that the best possible combination needs to feature in Week 2 and 4 (against France and Ireland), and that results as well as development will be important across the other three matches?

It wouldn’t surprise me to see some of the players on the standby list joining the squad sooner rather than later.

Neethling Fouché and Asenathi Ntlabakanye made their Test debuts earlier this season, and may be needed to bolster the front row as the long tour takes its toll.

That said, Erasmus has made some interesting calls at prop and hooker, and Porthern may well receive an opportunity against Japan in London, given that the Bath-based Thomas du Toit may be unavailable and Wilco Louw’s game time will need to be managed before the bigger showdown against France.

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It’s also worth noting that Japan are going into this block of internationals with an inexperienced forward pack, with two front-rankers yet to play Test rugby.

Erasmus has named two specialist hookers in the squad, and Grobbelaar’s availability for the duration of the tour may have earned him a place ahead of the Wales-based Marnus van der Merwe.

Wessels looks set to continue as a utility player, although the return of Steenekamp should see the youngster operating at hooker more than loosehead on the coming tour.

At some point over the next five matches, loose forward Marco van Staden may receive another chance at hooker.

Elsewhere, senior players like Lood de Jager and Kleyn will be desperate for game time after missing so many Tests due to injuries over the past two seasons.

Versatile back-five players such as BJ Dixon and Franco Mostert should get a chance, as Eben Etzebeth, Pieter-Steph du Toit and others could be managed over the course of the tour.

It will be interesting to see how Erasmus goes about these selections in the first two weeks of tour.

Going by last year’s tour to the north, the Boks coach could mix and match his side for the opener against Japan, giving fringe players a run while ensuring that a large group of established stars earmarked for the next game against France gets an opportunity to shake off the rust.

Erasmus has already spoken about using the Japan-based players in this fixture, given that they haven’t played any rugby since the Rugby Championship, unlike their United Rugby Championship counterparts.

Much has been made about Siya Kolisi’s 100th Test, and the fact that the inspirational skipper could reach the milestone when the Boks meet France.

Sentimentality aside, Erasmus may want to give Kolisi a run against Japan to ensure that he is battle-ready for the next game against France, and that the back-row combination of Kolisi, Du Toit and Jasper Wiese has more time to gel.

As was the case in the Rugby Championship, Erasmus could spring a few surprises with his backline combinations on the tour to Europe.

With Le Roux surplus to requirements and Aphelele Fassi recovering from injury, Damian Willemse is the only recognised fullback in the 36-man group.

Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Manie Libbok and Handré Pollard look set to share the No.10 responsibilities across the five matches, but don’t be surprised if the Stormers player slots in at fullback at some stage.

Edwill van der Merwe has started at No.15 for the Sharks this season, but it remains to be seen whether he can play that “second flyhalf” role and manage the team from the backfield.

Perhaps the later tour matches against Italy and Wales will provide the coaches with the chance to find an answer to this question.

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#REACTION: Rassie: ‘We are excited to see what he can do at this level’ 👇#SouthAfrica #Springboks https://t.co/jL6PalII0i

— Rugby365 (@rugby365com) October 20, 2025

Overall, it’s hard to know exactly what Erasmus will do this November – and that uncertainty will continue to count in the Boks’ favour.

André Esterhuizen has packed down on the flank several times this season and may be included on the bench at some point, as a hybrid player.

Erasmus has favoured the five-three bench for much of the 2025 Test season, but will have the option of deploying a six-two or seven-one split, possibly against Ireland in Dublin.

All in all, it promises to be a fascinating five weeks of international rugby.

There’s every chance that this group of players will return to South Africa with a perfect win-record, and that more players across the respective age profiles will receive opportunities.