VIDEO: Boks Office - Why 2025 will be the 'acid test' for SA
Former Springbok captain and World Cup winner Jean de Villiers believes that 2025 will test the Boks’ mettle after a stellar Test year.
Speaking to fellow former Springboks Schalk Burger and Hanyani Shimange on the latest episode of Boks Office, the 43-year-old praised the Boks for their performances in 2024 – against tough opposition with a new coaching team.
“Jacques Nienaber gone, Tony Brown in, Jerry Flannery in,” De Villiers said.
“There’s always a worry that there might be a dip in performance, but we haven’t seen that.
“And it’s not as if we played poor teams this year.”
The Springboks, who finished the year with an 84 percent win record having won 11 of their 13 Test matches, won the Rugby Championship and were undefeated on the end-of-year tour for the first time since 2013.
“The transition from back-to-back World Cup champs to this year has been pretty smooth, but now the standard is very high and next year will be the acid test for this group.”
(WATCH Jean de Villiers and Schalk Burger discuss what 2025 will look like for the Springboks…)
Burger praised the Bok management team for the number of players that were given opportunities this year, but warned that they need to gain considerable experience for the Boks to challenge at the next World Cup.
“Unfortunately for the older generation of players, not all of them are going to make it,” Burger said
“So that transition will start happening more and more.”
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Watch the highly acclaimed five-part documentary Chasing the Sun 2, chronicling the journey of the Springboks as they strive to successfully defend the Rugby World Cup, free on RugbyPass TV (*unavailable in Africa)
