Rassie Erasmus has confirmed the three players that definitely won’t play for the Springboks in 2025 and reveals his plans for the ageing stars in his squad.
Many of the players who lifted the William Webb Ellis Cup with the Springboks in 2019 went back-to-back four years later, which could be problematic as attentions turn to Australia 2027.
Key players like Eben Etzebeth, Siya Kolisi, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Bongi Mbonambi will be well into their 30s by the time the Springboks begin their title defence.
Realising this, Erasmus selected 50 players to represent the Springboks in 2024, a number that could have easily been higher had it not been for injuries and while the head coach admits that he has to blood youth into the squad, he will not be pushing veteran stars into retirement any time soon.
Reason for packed Springboks schedule
Speaking to the media in Cape Town ahead of the 2025 season, Erasmus explained that if the coaching team believes that a player will not be able to make the next World Cup or even the 2026 international season, they will still be selected if they are among the best players in their positions right now.
This is why he requested that South Africa have a longer international season than usual with the Springboks set for a 15-match schedule with one game against the Barbarians and another yet-to-be-determined international so that the coaching team can monitor the older players but still give opportunities to the next generation too.
“You try to single out which [matches] are going to be the tough ones, that’s why we wanted a tough year, we want a year like this, playing 15 matches, which will give us the chance to see certain players,” Erasmus explained.
“This isn’t really a transition year because last year we already looked at a few players. Then on the older players, in the past we never really looked at planning for the next World Cup we are actually doing it a little bit now and people are starting to put brackets next to guys’ ages and we do as well, then we have succession planning and thinking we know when some players are going to give up or can’t keep up anymore.
Springboks: Rassie Erasmus confirms 15th fixture in one of the longest seasons ever
“But then again, you can’t plan a guy’s career just around the World Cup because if he’s still good enough and he’s still number one, two or three in that position but he might retire in 2026 it will be very unfair not to pick him anymore just because he ends in 2026.”
He added: “So it’s a bit of both [planning for the future and winning now] and if you look at that squad depth chart or succession planning, I think there’s a nice spread of older guys -you want to put them in the red column – and amber guys between 25 and 30 and then younger guys between 20 and 25 out of the 80 to 84 in total.”
Sidelined trio
While Erasmus is not looking to retire any players in 2025, three forwards will not pull on the Green and Gold jersey this year.
“There are three players who won’t play for us this year already,” Erasmus said.
“They are Elrigh [Louw], Kitsie [Steven Kitshoff] who is done and Trevor [Nyakane], all the other players who are in that group, if they don’t get another injury, will not necessarily get game time but will be available to be selected.”
Louw enjoyed a breakout Test season in 2024 after initially being overlooked for the July internationals. He impressed in the victory over Portugal and cemented a place in the matchday 23 throughout the Rugby Championship and the end-of-year tour.
However, he has sustained a nasty leg injury that threatened his career and while he will recover to take the field again but it is unlikely to happen this year.
Meanwhile, double World Cup winner Kitshoff announced his retirement from professional rugby after a serious neck injury while fellow prop Nyakane sustained an Achilles injury that could also end his career.
READ MORE: Rassie Erasmus addresses Eben Etzebeth’s future after talks with ‘concussion guru’
Src: Planetrugby.com - https://www.planetrugby.com/news/rassie-erasmus-you-cant-plan-a-guys-career-around-the-world-cup
