The Springboks’ bid to win a third straight Rugby World Cup (RWC) will start to take shape in 2024. The four-year cycle to the 2027 RWC in Australia will require a rebuild, the kind not deemed necessary after they lifted the trophy in Yokohama in 2019.
Jacques Nienaber is no longer head coach, but it is in the player ranks that the Boks will have to undergo a bit of an overhaul.
Star No 8 Duane Vermeulen may be the only RWC 2023 winner to officially announce his retirement, but the nucleus of the Bok team that lifted the Webb Ellis Cup in Paris are on the wrong side of 30.
It is unlikely in four years that at the age of 38 Trevor Nyakane and Willie le Roux will do duty Down Under, while Makazole Mapimpi, who will blow out 37 candles that year, is another long shot.
Director of rugby and caretaker Bok coach Rassie Erasmus would by now have charted a course for the renewal process the team will need to undergo before their next global challenge.
In his squad of 33, it is unlikely he will have more than four players older than 33. Even that is a stretch.
That means 2024 will have to be a start of a cycle that will see the Boks build capacity and depth across their squad. Those who play themselves into the Bok squad in 2024 have the opportunity to cement their place and will potentially have between 40 and 50 caps by the next RWC.
Those who play themselves into the Bok squad in 2024 have the opportunity to cement their place by the next RWC
There certainly is no shortage of talent but Erasmus and Co will have to get their selections spot on from the start of this cycle if they hope to complete a first-ever hat-trick of RWC titles.
The United Rugby Championship — and increasingly the Champions Cup — will be the springboard from which the country’s top talent will have to stake their claim.
There is vast talent outside the group that earned selection for the RWC in France.
Loose forwards Evan Roos, Hacjivah Dayimani and Elrigh Louw have been consistent performers over the last few seasons, while Ruan Venter, Ben-Jason Dixon and Cameron Hanekom are players whose fortunes are expected to soar.
Roos, who has five Tests under the belt, perhaps occupies the inside lane but Dayimani, who perhaps does not fit the profile of a back rower the Bok selectors might routinely opt for, is becoming hard to ignore.
In the second row Ruan Nortje and Salmaan Moerat will want to prove they have more Test caps in them. The latter has been plagued by injury and needs a consistent run to restore confidence. His provincial team-mate Ruben van Heerden has taken his game to another level.
Tighthead Neethling Fouche has also produced some telling performances but he will be nearing his mid-30s in 2027, while Wilco Louw, though highly regarded, is in the same age group.
Thomas du Toit will likely blip with more regularity on the Bok radar, as will Gerhard Steenekamp.
Stormers hooker Andre-Hugo Venter has produced eye-catching performances of late but Johan Grobbelaar has been a standout operator for the Bulls.
Lions halfback Sanele Nohamba has been a standout performer for his team. The scrumhalf has made a near seamless move to flyhalf and has impressed. Versatility is a virtue much valued in the Bok set-up, and the interchangeable Nohamba's stock is certainly on the rise.
The same might apply to utility back Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu. He is a player of rich promise but he will have to deliver under a weight of expectation.
Henco van Wyk is another player of who more is expected, while David Kriel continues his rise at the Bulls.
Aphelele Fassi has some ground to make up in the new year. He is an irresistible talent with ball in hand but without it his fortunes have taken a dip. He is too gifted to be out of the Bok reckoning but he has some convincing to do.
Moreover, in shaping the Boks future, don't expect Erasmus and Co to gaze backwards too often.
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