Springbok development towards 2027

[TRF_stormer2010]

Rassie playing 51 players this year made me wonder who were they and how are we tracking.. I couldn't find a list of who the 51 players were so thought I'd have a look at our matches and list them here (grouped in position and in order of appearance and with i's representing caps for 2024):

2024 season:

Ox Nche iiiiiiiiiii
Ntuthuku Nchunu ii
Vincent Koch iiiiiiiiiiii
Frans Malherbe iiiiiii
Gerhard Steenekamp iiiiiiiii
Jan-Hendrik Wessels iii
Thomas du Toit iiiii
Trevor Nyakane i
Wilco Louw ii

Malcolm Marx iiiiiiiiiiii
Bongi Mbonambi iiiiiiiii
Johan Grobbelaar iii
Andre-Hugo Venter i

Eben Etzebeth iiiiiiiiiii
Franco Mostert iiiii
Salmaan Moerat iiiiiii
RG Snyman iiiiii
Ruan Nortje iiiii

Kwagga Smith iiiiiiiiiii
Pieter-Steph du Toit iiiiiiiiii
Evan Roos ii
Ben-Jason Dixon iiiii
Siya Kolisi iiiiiiiii
Marco Van Staaden iiiiiii
Ruan Venter i
Elrigh Louw iiiiiiiiii
Phepsi Buthelezi i
Jasper Wiese iiiiiii
Cameron Hanekom i

Faf de Klerk iii
Grant Williams iiiiiiiii
Cobus Reinach iiiiiii
Morne van den Berg ii
Jaden Hendrikse iiiii

Jordan Hendrikse ii
Sacha Mngomezulu-Feinberg iiiiiiii
Handre Pollard iiiiiiiiiii
Manie Libbok iiiii

Andre Esterhuizen iii
Jesse Kriel iiiiiiiiiii
Damian De Allende iiiiiiiii
Lukhanyo Am iiiiiii

Makazole Mapimpi iiiii
Edwill van der Merwe i
Kurt-Lee Arendse iiiiiiiii
Cheslin Kolbe iiiiiiiii
Canan Moodie ii

Aphelele Fassi iiiiiiii
Willie le Roux iiiii
Quan Horn i

Hmm, seems I am missing one player somehow. Anyway, players who would probably have featured if it weren't for injury:

Steven Kitshoff
Jean Kleyn
Lood de Jager
Damian Willemse

Working from the backs down and looking at a potential 34 man squad (*all ages given are for 2027)..
15 (2) Willemse / Fassi
I feel it is clear Fassi is getting the time ahead of Le Roux. Prudent going forwards but I suspect Willemse will still be seen as #1 at fullback. Both these are quite young. In case of injury in a RWC year it would probably be a good idea to look at perhaps giving one of Quan Horn or perhaps Tyrone Green some time in the cycle? At a pinch we do have a number of players who have played at 15 at high levels though it would certainly be seen as playing out of position (Moodie, Kriel, Kolbe, SFM etc)

Wing (4) Arendse / Kolbe / Van der Merwe / Moodie
I think we will be seeing less and less of Mpaimpi and more of Van der Merwe who had a MoTM game the one cap he got vs Wales before getting injured. Him and Moodie and Arendse will probably be putting pressure on what will be a 34 year old Kolbe. I have added 4 wings mainly because Moodie can cover 13 and fullback.

Center (3)
Us not blooding a single of our up and coming centers I see as signalling one of two options. Either Rassie is betting that 33 (Am/Esterhuizen/Kriel) and even 36! (DDA) is not too old ooooorr, our fringe centers are all quite young still and he is waiting to give them a shot or see who takes their opportunities at URC level. These include Henco van Wyk (26), Suleiman Hartzenberg (24), Ethan Hooker (24), Jurenzo Julius (23). We'll see if Rassie starts bringing Moodie back into the 13 role.

Fly Half (3) SFM / Pollard / Libbok
I think Pollard will make the cut and be our preferred bench player.

Scrumhalf (3) ???
Here I am at a loss. Jaden Hendrikse is the right age but lacking IMO (needs to refind the form he had 2020/1). De Klerk and Reinach probably too old. Williams currently our best but no spring chicken either. We'll see how things progress here. It is a position alongside center I feel we need to develop younger guys.

Loose forward (6) Smith / Louw / Wiese / Dixon / Hanekom / ?
I think we will see Kolisi and PSdT take their leave probably. Kolis surely. PSdT? The way he plays.. in three years? I'd be very surprised. But if Deon Fourie could do it... I think Kwagga Smith has it in him to do a Deon Fourie. I don't think we'll take too many 8s so think Roos and Buthelezi are surplus. Van Staden too old... We do need one openside to step up. Blindside/lock-loosie and 8 we have plenty to choose from. Can Ruan Venter play the role Kolisi does? Not a traditional openside but then neither is Kolisi.

Lock (4) Etzebeth / Snyman / Nortje / Moerat probably, right? (I don't even rate him in the top 2 Stormers locks but go figure)
I think Mostert and De Jager won't make it. Etzebeth will be 36 but I believe! We'll be fine here. Wonder if Rassie is keeping an eye on JJ Van der Mescht or if the French will pick up another SA lock.

Prop (6) Name your pick.
Honestly, I can go very deep. Players like Carlu Sadie and Neethling Fouche not even getting their names thrown about. We are deep at prop.

Hooker (3) Marx and then 2 of Wessels, Grobbelaar and Venter probaly
Because I can't see Mbonambi making it.

Players I believe might still get a look in:

Neethling Fouche (If Malherbe and Koch are seen as being too old)
Jason Jenkins (surely ahead of Moerat?)
Sanele Nohamba or Imad Kahn at 9 simply because we are lacking there IMO for world class options.
The centers I mentioned simply because our options are getting on in years.

We'll see I guess. The framework is certainly there to make a decent push for 3 RWC ***les in a row but we will probably be seen as pantomime villains I suppose and the top tier is as crowded as it has been recently.

 

[ChicagoKid]

Good list and I agree with most of your picks. This is how I see the next 3 years going.

2025: Squad will be cut to 37-42 players and people like Jaden, Wessels, and Dixon will get a ton of minutes. Simultaneously, a bunch of older vets and older fringe players will drop out.

Kleyn, Willie, Mapimpi and potentially a few others might feature one or twice but by the autumn it will be clear their time is over barring injuries. You've already seen Rassie move on from Faf and Trevor and next year will bring more of the same.

Finally, a bunch of fringe players won't feature barring massive injury issues like we experienced with lock. However, I do think you will see one or two position groups — I bet lock — that will see some fresh faces as players like Mostert face retirement.

2026: Stalwarts start to lose their starting roles or place in the 23. In 2022, Damian was giving a shot at solidifying a starting role, took it, and never gave it up.

You will see the same thing here. Rassie knows he can incorporate players and build a championship team within 2 years. IMO, this is the most important year in the cycle. Any changes to coaching, player, or S&C staff must be made this year. Maybe that's bringing back Jacques or moving on from Siya. Who knows, but Rassie has consistently used the year before of a RWC to make bold moves.

2027: Time for the 3-peat.

 

[saulan]

Saw these on Reddit, relevant to what you did above:

Technically this list above is missing 3 players (not sure who)

Every player who has started for the Springboks this year (some overlap when a player has started in multiple positions) - NB this is started, not every player who has played in each position