Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has unlocked a major discussion in publicly stating that the lock position is one area he feels his back-to-back World Cup winners need reinforcement if they are to create history and win a third successive World Cup.
South Africa’s most capped player Eben Etzebeth will return to rugby in March after serving a nine match suspension for eye-gouging a Welsh player in the Springboks 73-0 win in Cardiff in the last Test of 2025.
Erasmus has consistently emphasised that no player is guaranteed selection for the 2027 World Cup based on past heroics
Erasmus has consistently emphasised that no player is guaranteed selection for the 2027 World Cup based on past heroics. He is very conscious of age, not necessarily in years, but in how much a player’s body has endured.
Erasmus has also never ruled out senior players under the pretence he was building towards a World Cup year. Erasmus has always picked the best available, regardless of age, and integrated the newbies into a system that is filled with the old guard.
Etzebeth’s workload will have to be managed if he is to make it through another 18 months of rugby before the start of the 2027 World Cup in Australia.
The same is applicable to veteran Franco Mostert, while recurring injuries continue to frustrate Springbok lock Lood de Jager and Salmaan Moerat.
The Bulls captain Ruan Nortje has been a revelation for the Springboks and Leinster-based RG Snyman should be at the peak of his powers in 2027.
Pieter-Steph du Toit is an option to move back to lock after starting his professional career in the second row, before becoming the most dominant blindside flanker in the sport.
When Erasmus says the Boks are thin at lock, he is referencing the quality of depth that has been there since 2019.
Erasmus, by going public with his thoughts on the Boks’ second-row stocks, has put some of the senior players on alert, giving the likes of Bulls lock Cobus Wiese, Munster’s Jean Kleyn and Moerat a reminder that nothing is settled, and giving hope to South Africa’s 150kg second-row giant JJ van der Mescht, who is playing for Northamption Saints, having played 87 matches for Stade Francais out of Paris. Van der Mescht made his professional debut for the Sharks before heading overseas.
David Ribbans is another player Erasmus will be eyeing, but the question will be if Ribbans, born and raised in Somerset West, Cape Town, will consider playing for the Springboks after representing England
He has expressed his desire and motivation to break into the Bok squad.
Erasmus has acknowledged him by name, so don’t be surprised if he is in the first national alignment group.
David Ribbans is another player Erasmus will be eyeing, but the question will be if Ribbans, born and raised in Somerset West, Cape Town, will consider playing for the Springboks after representing England.
Ribbans won the U-19 and U-21 provincial titles with Western Province’s youth teams, played seven matches for Western Province’s senior team before relocating to England to play for Saints. He qualified for England courtesy of his grandfather and played against the Springboks at Twickenham.
Ribbans moved to Toulon, France, in 2025, which rules him out of England selection. The English, like New Zealand, won’t select any player for the national side who is based overseas.
Ribbans can’t be selected for the 2027 World Cup, but with his final England Test having been in the play-off for third place at the 2023 World Cup in Paris, he qualifies to play for South Africa, as the country of his birth, in October 2026.
Ribbans currently captains Toulon, weighs 125kg and is among the elite locks in the Top 14 and Investec Champions Cup.
Only, in an interview with the (London) Telegraph a year ago, he said it would be wrong to play for the Springboks, having played for England.
“Would I consider it? You never say never but I’d put aside the potential glory for that because it wouldn’t be right towards England.”
That was a year ago, and just maybe the never say never sentiment is getting stronger with every week spent in France.
Erasmus is a persuasive voice.
• Mark Keohane is the founder of keo.co.za, a multiple award-winning sports writer, and the digital content director at Habari Media. Twitter: @mark_keohane
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