Boks in uncharted waters

Captain Siya Kolisi believes the experienced hands in the Springbok squad are driven by hunger to play at another Rugby World Cup.

“For us the most important thing is to have that hunger... Work rate, being physical, wanting to be here, and adding value to the team. The coaches will work out who is good enough. That is not up to us,” Kolisi said ahead of his return in yesterday’s one-off Test against Georgia in Mbombela.

As much as the Springboks are spreading game time in an attempt to renew their squad, they still have 18 players from the 2019 Rugby World Cup in active pursuit of reprising their roles in the 2027 edition in Australia.

In that sense, the Springboks find themselves in uncharted waters, with an unusually high number of players hoping to be part of a squad that wins the RWC for an unprecedented third time in a row.

Double RWC winners Kolisi, Willie le Roux, Damian Willemse, Cheslin Kolbe, Makazole Mapimpi, Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende, Handre Pollard, Faf de Klerk, Cobus Reinach, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Kwagga Smith, Franco Mostert, Eben Etzebeth, RG Snyman, Vincent Koch, Malcolm Marx and Bongi Mbonambi have all had game time this year.

For us the most important thing is to have that hunger... Work rate, being physical, wanting to be here, and adding value to the team. The coaches will work out who is good enough. That is not up to us.

Lood de Jager, Thomas du Toit and Lukhanyo Am played at the 2019 RWC but not at the most recent instalment in France. Am is yet to represent the Boks this year.

It, of course, says much of the continuity in selection and the longevity of players that head coach Rassie Erasmus has so many vastly experienced hands at his disposal two years from the next RWC.

Historically, that number is considerably higher than the average retentions for the defence of a RWC title, let alone a tournament eight years prior.

The All Blacks and Australia both retained 13 players from their respective wins in 1987 and 1991 for their title defence, while the Springboks kept just seven warriors from the 1995 success in 1999.

Eddie Jones drew on 10 RWC winners in his Wallaby squad in 2003, while England coach Brian Ashton reassembled 13 of Clive Woodward’s winners for the 2007 tournament.

The Boks gathered 18 RWC winners for their title defence in New Zealand in 2011, while All Blacks coach Steve Hansen called on 14 2011 winners to defend the title in 2015. Nine RWC winners were in Hansen’s 2019 squad.

The Boks had 22 of their 2019 world beaters in their 33-man selection for the 2023 tournament. Erasmus used more than 50 players last year and has called on 46 in just four matches this year. He is casting his net wide as he integrates fresh talent ahead of an unavoidable cull.

In many ways, Kolisi — the elder statesman, and the face of the team’s success in Yokohama in 2019 — is also the frontman for those hoping to push on and go where no team has gone before. “I feel good. My body feels good,” said Kolisi, who yesterday played his first game for the Boks this year after struggling with niggles.

“I take it year by year. That is the end goal [playing in the next RWC]. I still want to be there. Coach Rassie made it clear. You can be 36 but if you are the fittest 36-year-old that is all that you need. It is all about what I can do and produce on the field. If I still feel as good as I feel today, I think I’ll be there.”

Assistant coach Mzwandile Stick provided a coach’s perspective: “It will be unfair of us as coaches to force players to retire. Our job is to coach the players. Siya is in good shape. We took Schalk Brits to the World Cup [in 2019] and Duane [Vermeulen, in 2023]. They were still producing what we needed from them.”

He has no doubt Kolisi still has what it takes. “We were surprised. When we started with the camps in Joburg we started heavy with the fitness tests. Siya had one of the good scores in those tests. The age doesn’t matter that much, as long as you are producing and you are able to handle the load,” said Stick.