Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has clear objectives for the 2025 Test season, with the 2027 World Cup in mind.
The Boks are set to play 15 Tests this year (two still to be confirmed) as well as a non-cap match against the Barbarians on 28 June in Cape Town.
That explains the selection of a 53-man squad ahead of the first four fixtures, although Erasmus confirmed on Thursday that it would be trimmed to 40-42.
“Getting the balance between building and continuing to win [in 2025] is the most important thing because the World Cup draw is at the end of the year,” the Bok coach said, as quoted by Rapport. “We will try to build, but if we don’t have momentum, we won’t be able to build in the next Test.
“Our planning has to be right for every Test; if you lose a little momentum, you could take one step back before you can take two steps forward.
“We really have our plans pretty much right. However, you never know if a team will come along that will put a stop to them. In that case, you have to plan again from scratch.”
READ: Springboks 2025 schedule
Erasmus said he planned to “pick a fairly established team against the Barbarians, but maybe also give a few new players a chance to play” and wouldn’t underestimate Italy and Georgia in July.
“Everyone expects us to just beat Italy. They were really competitive in the first two rounds of this year’s Six Nations, after which they struggled with their player depth as they don’t have such a large player pool.
“They will have a warm-up Test [against Namibia] before they play us. They will be physical and ready for us. They showed quite a bit of courage on defence [in the Six Nations]. We have to play in a way that everyone maintains their confidence in the Boks.”
Regarding Georgia, Erasmus said: “If you underestimate them up front, the whole Test can be difficult.”
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Photo: Daniel Hlongwane/Gallo Images
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