Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus opened up about the South African contingent’s experience at World Rugby’s Shape of the Game summit in London, where they received certain assurances and were admittedly surprised by the feedback.
South African Rugby CEO Rian Oberholzer and Springbok General Manager Charles Wessels lifted the lid on the reasons SA Rugby opted to take the Fourth Test to Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States, when the Springboks take on fierce rivals New Zealand in the series dubbed Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry.
Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus cast his net wide, as he named a 49-man squad featuring 11 uncapped players – five of whom are still in the Junior Bok ranks – for the team’s first in-person alignment camp of the year in Cape Town on Wednesday.
Sharks controlling owner Marco Masotti has confirmed the appointment of JP Pietersen as the club’s head coach.
The Springboks will return to Adelaide for only the second time ever when they kick off their 2027 Rugby World Cup campaign against Italy on Sunday, 3 October, before heading to Brisbane and Perth to face Georgia and Romania in their two remaining pool matches.
Former Springbok scrumhalf Rudy Page says he is not concerned about the possibility of South Africa losing assistant coach Tony Brown to New Zealand.
Malcolm Marx, who was named World Rugby’s Men’s 15s Player of the Year last year, is up against his Springbok team-mates Pieter-Steph du Toit, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Ox Nche and Jasper Wiese for the prestigious SA Rugby’s Men’s Player of the Year Award for 2025.
Sharks coach JP Pietersen says the experience of two-time Rugby World Cup winner Eben Etzebeth will be sorely missed as the lock serves a suspension that will keep him sidelined until March next year.
DHL Stormers director of rugby John Dobson has expressed his delight at the return of two-time Rugby World Cup-winning Springbok captain Siya Kolisi, describing his homecoming as a major boost for the Cape Town-based franchise.