Rassie Erasmus has refused, after the 2023 Rugby World Cup, to choose between the present and the future. He has demanded both, which is why the Springboks have never been in a stronger position midcycle in between World Cups.
Erasmus has adopted a win, grow and expand policy, and refused to default to the antiquated age of bringing in rugby’s Grim Reaper in between World Cups.
He has backed older players, even if he may have doubts that some won’t make it to Australia late in 2027.
Good enough right now is a priority.
The potential to be good enough in 2027 is what he has played with in picking in excess of 60 players in the last 20 Tests, and maintained a Springboks high of an 80% win rate.
Erasmus has blooded the next generation in every position, from 15 to one, from 16 to 23; who starts, who finishes a game, and who is comfortable to do both. Which forward can play in the backs, and which back can double as a forward.
Kwagga Smith is the loose-forward that can do a job among the backs, and Andre Esterhuizen was identified as a centre good enough to be a blindside flanker.
Cheslin Kolbe, with his ability to play 9, 10, 11, 14 and 15, and kick for posts, allows for the outrageous but equally successful Boks seven forwards and one backs substitute’s bench.
Received golden buzzer
In this past year, so many players have received the golden buzzer on audition: Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu at 10 or 15; Ethan Hooker on the wing or in the midfield; Ruan Nortje at lock or flank; Cameron Hanekom at 6, 7 or 8; and Jan-Hendrik Wessels at loosehead prop and hooker.
Canan Moodie at 11, 13 , 14 and 15.
All of these players have two World Cups, at a minimum, in them, but already they are starting ahead of back to back World Cup winners, with the latter comfortably putting their egos to one side and evolving their roles from matadors to mentors.
Only two positions remain a lottery, scrumhalf and hooker.
In Malcolm Marx, the Boks have the best Test hooker in the sport, but the next cabs off the rank are not confirmed. Marnus van der Merwe, Andre-Hugo Venter and Johann Grobbelaar are bunched and Bongi Mbonambi has to show he still has a Test pulse.
At scrumhalf, Grant Williams has flourished, but Cobus Reinach and Faf de Klerk are on the wrong side of father time. Morne van den Berg has been present without owning the position, and Jaden Hendrikse is paddling in stormier waters, when a year ago it looked so calm.
Building world-class machine
Erasmus has never chased novelty for novelty’s sake. He’s building a world-class machine that can be history-makers and win three successive World Cups.
The coach has been about rotation, combinations and risk in backing the next generation of players in the pressure matches that are the equal of World Cup play-off occasions.
There has been no sacrificial altar and dramatic headline of an axing. History and deed have been respected, but form and deliverables will ultimately determine who goes to Australia.
Come 2027, if a 40-year-old is playing well, Erasmus will select such a player, and if an 18-year-old emerges from the junior ranks to make the biggest debut season professional impact, he will pick him.
He is not one who has been restricted by age. Rather he has been guided by belief in a player and the form of the player.
The Next Generation are playing in select matches, some of them the biggest of the year, and they are delivering, but the heroes of the 2019 and 2023 World Cup-winning campaigns have not been ejected.
This is not how Erasmus operates.
The core of the 2027 World Cup squad picks itself but, critically, there’ll be up to five spots up for grabs in the next 18 months before he finalises the squad to go to Australia.
Never has a Springbok World Cup build-up been so calm and calculated.
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