REVEALED: The Boks' real 'A-Team'
OPINION: It is a World Cup Final. You must select a starting XV to face New Zealand, France or Ireland.
That is the brief.
However, the riders are that the Final is tomorrow and no injured players can be considered.
With that in mind, I sat down and looked at the three main matches on South Africa’s year-end tour – victories over France (32-17), Italy (32-14) and Ireland (24-13).
I looked at the players’ performance in the three clutch matches on tour and selected my starting XV for a World Cup Final.
* Let me know if you agree/disagree!
15 – Damian Willemse
He is a great centre and is also good at flyhalf, but fullback is his best position. With Willie le Roux put out to pasture and the injured Aphelele Fassi not consistent enough yet, the steadying influence of the 27-year-old Willemse is my choice for the No.15 jersey. There is a reason he started in the Tests against France, Italy and Ireland and played the full 80 minutes in the last two.
14 – Cheslin Kolbe
The magic-maker started in the two big games, against France (on the right wing) and Ireland (on the left). He played the full 80 minutes in both. Got limited opportunities against the Irish, but against the French, he was clocking more metres than most, with half the number of carries. He also made all his tackles, not that there were ever any questions about his commitment on defence.
13 – Jessie Kriel
He played the full 80 minutes against France and Ireland, again proving his value as the defence organiser, missing just one tackle. However, it is his allround game, which includes plenty of carries and a great variety with a passing and offload game, that sets him apart.
12 – Damian de Allende
His partnership with Kriel, even though he played only 48 minutes against France, remains a mainstay of the backline. His powerful ball carries, always approaching double digits, are what often get the Boks on the front foot. Despite the perception that he is a crash-ball dummy, De Allende showed some neat touches and very seldom misses a tackle.
11 – Kurt-Lee Arendse
One of the more complicated decisions I had to make, with Canan Moodie having made a valid case for inclusion. Arendse edged the selection based on his allround performance against France, which included carries, passes, tackles made and his kick-chase work.
10 – Handre Pollard
This will no doubt have the Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Manie Libbok fan clubs frothing at the mouth. Yes, Pollard played only 70 minutes against Italy, but he showed why he is a ‘must’ for crunch matches. The erratic form of Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Libbok (please do re-look the France and Ireland games) means they are likely to cost the team dearly in those clutch moments. You simply can’t ignore the missed penalties, the missed touch finders, the erratic field kicks, stray passes and most crucially, missed tackles. Feinberg-Mngomezulu is one of the finds of the season, but he is having trouble regularly repeating the sublime performance against New Zealand.
9 – Cobus Reinach
He has emerged as the most consistent scrumhalves in South Africa. His passing game is mostly on point. His kicking game has improved by leaps and bounds, but the best aspect is that he reads the game well and produces crucial plays, as he showed against France.
8 – Jasper Wiese
He has become the Boks’ most consistent ball-carrier, with 29 in the games against France and Ireland. Then there is his double-digit tackle counts and work at the breakdown.
7 – Pieter-Steph du Toit
There is a reason that he was a finalist for the Player of the Year nominations, but it is not just for his amazing tackle count – 20-odd against France and Ireland. He was very effective in carrying the ball, a function he was only surpassed by, by one forward, Wiese.
6 – Siya Kolisi (captain)
Having been sacrificed twice, against France and Italy, after questionable red cards (one since rescinded), he produced an impressive hour-long performance against Ireland in Dublin. His work on defence showed that he is comfortable doing the donkey work. Then there is his unsurpassed leadership!
5 – Ruan Nortje
One of the most undervalued players in the Bok setup. Yes, many will select Lood de Jager ahead of him, and De Jager did start against France. But guess who Rassie Erasmus rushed on when the Boks lost a lock and needed a line-out called. Now look at his game against Ireland. There was seven carries, with some decent post-contact metres, three passes, an offload and 13 tackles.
4 – Eben Etzebeth
Another player for the big moments. Yes, he doesn’t play many full matches any more, but does some serious damage in his first-half performances. There was a handful of carries, six passes, as many tackles and a crucial turnover. His set-piece work should also not be underestimated.
3 – Thomas du Toit
It was tough deciding between Thomas du Toit and Wilco Louw, two destructive scrummagers. It is Du Toit’s greater workrate outside the set pieces that won him my vote.
2 – Malcolm Marx
After a lean patch, the best hooker in the world (also the world’s best player in 2025) is back. His workrate outside the set-pieces is up, his defensive sets are impressive and, best of all, he is back to winning some crucial turnovers.
1- Boan Venter
It is only because Ox Nche is injured and not available. Venter has used his opportunities to climb up the national front row rankings. Gerhard Steenekamp is pushing hard.
Bomb squad
16 Johan Grobbelaar
17 Gerhard Steenekamp
18 Wilco Louw
19 RG Snyman
20 Kwagga Smith
21 Andre Esterhuizen
22 Grant Williams
23 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu
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