Depleted Boks To Face-Off Against Wales
Two-time Rugby World Cup-winning coach Rassie Erasmus will have to make do with a depleted squad heading into the final international fixture of the season.
Following victories over Japan, France, Italy, and Ireland over the past four weeks, the Rugby World Cup Champions wrap up their end-of-year tour against a beleaguered Wales at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.
As South Africa and Wales prepare for the final fixture of the year, both sides are expected to be severely depleted since this game falls outside of World Rugby’s international window.
The Springbok coach confirmed that only 24 or 25 players will make the trip following a mass exodus from the touring squad.
Erasmus revealed that most overseas-based players will be unavailable for the non-Test window fixture.
The biggest blow comes from Japan, where nine players must return to honour club commitments after their employers granted them special release for the earlier Test against Japan, which also fell outside World Rugby’s international window.
That means the contingent of Pieter-Steph du Toit, Kwagga Smith, Jasper Wiese, Malcolm Marx, Damian de Allende, Jesse Kriel, Franco Mostert, Cheslin Kolbe, and Manie Libbok will all be heading back to Japan, while Lood de Jager is already suspended.
Erasmus will also lose several European-based players, with Thomas du Toit (Bath), Boan Venter (Edinburgh), and RG Snyman (Leinster) all unavailable as their clubs are not obliged to release them.
The Boks have already been hit by Kurt-Lee Arendse’s concussion, against Italy, which forced the wing to go home, while Erasmus must still decide whether to summon Edwill van der Merwe, who returned to South Africa for the birth of his child.
Grant Williams will also not be available with Erasmus, saying, “Grant (Williams) is going back to the Sharks; he must play there.”
The world champions will, however, have full access to local players after SA Rugby and the URC franchises agreed on compensation for this additional 2025 fixture – the team’s 15th of a long season. Rapport claims the Bulls, Lions, Stormers, and Sharks will each receive roughly R285,000 per Springbok selected.
“We spoke to our URC friends out in South Africa, so we will train next week with only 25 players in the group.”
The Springboks are not the only team with this issue, as Wales are in a similar position, with 10 members of their 23-man squad that faced the All Blacks playing in the English Premiership or French Top 14.
Erasmus remained grounded, refusing to treat Wales as an afterthought, and stressed the significance of a victory: “Our aim this year was to try and end in the top four,” referring to the World Rugby rankings.
“Next year, it can be more experimental as December 7 is the World Cup draw, and if you are outside the top six, you might be in a pool of death. Our first goal was to be in the top four so that the pool draw could be okay,” explained Erasmus.
“Ox (Nche), Jan-Hendrik (Wessels), and Frans Malherbe will only be ready next June, and we had to bring a few youngsters into the mix, so we are getting better in swapping in and out in different positions, but there is a lot of work still to do if we think we can stay at the top.”
Eleventh-ranked Wales would struggle against the Springboks with a full-strength squad. Going into this game with the bulk of their first XV missing is a major cause for concern as the dominant Springboks look to secure an undefeated tour and further cement their ranking as World Rugby’s undisputed number one team.
