The Springboks return to Twickenham, now the Allianz Stadium, as the official world No 1 team, the World Cup champions, the Rugby Championship winners, and they do so with the best possible match 23 coach Rassie Erasmus could have selected.
Outside sealing the two-Test series in Cape Town against the All Blacks, this is the biggest Test of the year for a Bok squad whose only two defeats in 2024 have come by a single point respectively to Ireland (in Durban) and Argentina (in Santiago).
The Boks, in 2024, have beaten Ireland in Pretoria, done the Wallabies twice in succession in Australia, beaten the All Blacks on consecutive weekends in South Africa, dealt with Wales in London, Portugal in Bloemfontein, Argentina in Nelspruit and Scotland in Edinburgh.
The depth of the player strength is that Erasmus, throughout 2024, has on average made nine changes to his starting XV from one Test to another. For Saturday night’s showdown against England, there are 12 changes to the starting XV that did the early work in the 32-15 win against Scotland.
For the Springboks, any Test against England in southwest London is a big one. It is usually a battle that has not always favoured the Boks.
Erasmus, before he left South Africa, had already picked the match 23s for the tour's opening two Tests. For once, injury did not scupper any of his plans and he could field a ‘mix and match’ match 23 for Scotland and rest several of his frontline players for the challenge of England.
Loosehead prop Ox Nche, hooker Bongi Mbonambi and lock Eben Etzebeth are the surviving trio from Edinburgh who will start again. Several others played at some stage against Scotland, but the midfield and back three did not feature at all against Scotland.
Tighthead prop Wilco Louw was also not in the match 23 against Scotland and Louw plays for the Boks for the first time since 2021.
Louw, who spent three seasons at Harlequins in London before returning to South Africa to play for the Bulls for the past two years, has been the best scrumming tighthead prop in the United Rugby Championship. He has been the anchor around which the Bulls have built their scrum dominance.
Louw was not in Erasmus’s original touring squad, with veteran and back-to-back World Cup winner Frans Malherbe having had ownership of the No 3 jersey ever since Erasmus returned to South Africa from Munster, Ireland, in 2018.
Injury, in the Rugby Championship, forced Malherbe’s withdrawal from the November internationals and Erasmus finally turned to the scrumming power of Louw, no doubt with England in mind.
Saturday may be the only Test Louw plays on tour, with Erasmus expected to change the core of the side for the season’s final outing against Wales in a week’s time, but it is the one in which he could put himself front of mind when it comes to the 2027 World Cup planning.
For the Springboks, any Test against England in south west London is a big one. It is usually a battle that has not always favoured the Boks. There was the painful 53-3 humiliation in 2002 and the crushing one point defeats (12-11 and 27-26) in the past six years, but there have also been some splendid victories since the game went professional, most notably the 42-6 win during former coach Peter de Villiers’s tenure.
Erasmus’s Boks, then coached by his predecessor Jacques Nienaber (while Erasmus was director of rugby) also produced a memorable victory two years ago. Back then Manie Libbok and Damian Willemse ignited the Boks and the surge towards victory.
Willemse is recovering from surgery, but Libbok will start with Grant Williams the halfback partner. They will lead a backline oozing attacking genius and one that should play on the front foot, given the starting pack.
Erasmus has entrusted Libbok and Williams to dazzle from the opening minute and picked veteran halfbacks Cobus Reinach and Handré Pollard to close out the Test.
Pollard’s presence in the 23 eases any angst of goal-kicking, but this Test promises to be the exception for the Boks when it comes to goal-kicking and it is one they should win because of an ability to score tries and not just kick late penalties.
The Boks are heavily favoured to win, and rightly so. They arrive in Twickenham as the world’s best, featuring a match 23 with the world’s best and should be expected to leave having put on an exhibition that does justice to their profile as the world’s best.
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