Springboks team: Winners and losers as star forward ‘lucky’ after set-piece shambles while picture could become ‘clearer’ for Rassie Erasmus

Following the announcement of Rassie Erasmus’ Springboks team to face the Wallabies in the Rugby Championship, we pick out our winners and losers.

South Africa’s head coach has reacted to their shock defeat last weekend by making 10 changes to the squad, while he has also reverted to a 6-2 split on the bench.

Winners

Jesse Kriel

With Siya Kolisi on the sidelines and Eben Etzebeth on the bench, the centre has been handed the responsibility of captaining the side. Kriel was much-maligned earlier in his career, but he has become absolutely central to this springboks  team.

While he didn’t have his greatest outing at the weekend – no one from a South African persuasion particularly did – he remains one of the best centres in the world defensively. He has also become an excellent player with ball in hand and he will hope to make a bigger impact in Cape Town.

Malcolm Marx

One of those who is perhaps lucky to retain his place after the lineout woes from the Rugby championship opener. Marx probably benefits from the fact that Bongi Mbonambi struggled even more when he came onto the field and has duly paid the price for that.

Usually such a strength of South Africa’s, the lineout, is a concern heading into this clash with Marx’s throwing, especially coming under scrutiny. He was great around the field, but that means very little if your fundamentals are not up to standard.

Willie le Roux

The Springboks centurion is back in the XV after they lost complete control of the game in Johannesburg. They did not struggle to create chances, but South Africa certainly missed having a calming presence behind the scrum.

You get the feeling that Erasmus ultimately wants to move on from Le Roux, but the 36-year-old continues to perform at a high level, and the Boks tend to function better with him in the team. It is therefore no surprise that he is back when the world champions need a reaction.

Marco van Staden

Like Marx, he is one of the few to keep his place from the previous match, but unlike the hooker, he did more than enough on Saturday to remain in the side. Van Staden’s performances have gone somewhat under the radar, but he has been one of their best performers this year.

Even in defeat, the flanker was very good in Test one, stealing the ball at the breakdown, carrying hard over the gain line and making some big shots on defence. Van Staden has certainly made his mark in 2025 and deserves to be in the XV.

Jean-Luc du Preez

With Kolisi, they needed someone to take his place at number eight. Erasmus could have gone for Kwagga Smith, but he prefers to have the 32-year-old, which means the head coach has opted for the excellent Du Preez, who deservedly gets his chance.

He has been waiting in the wings for a while, but following a plethora of injuries in the eight slot, Du Preez comes into the side. He will certainly offer more dynamism in the carry and provide another jumping option in the lineout as they look to rectify their issues from the Joburg loss.

Backline duo

Similar to Van Staden, Williams was one of the few to produce at a high level consistently at the weekend and quite rightly gets the nod once again. There will be criticism over his game management in the second period, but that is probably more on Manie Libbok, who made some poor decisions after the break.

Williams, meanwhile, was accurate with his box-kicking, sharp from the base and played a full part in the Boks’ excellent opening first quarter. The fact that South Africa failed to build on their fast start was not really his fault, as he continued to do his job well.

Losers

Injured quartet

There were always going to be changes, but four of them were enforced with Kolisi, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Edwill van der Merwe all missing out through injury. The loss of Du Toit is a particular blow, while Arendse would have started on the left wing.

If everyone had been fit, Van der Merwe probably would have missed out, given Cheslin Kolbe’s return to fitness, but he will be frustrated that an ankle injury has denied him the opportunity of at least putting his hand up as he had been in fine form.

Lood de Jager

Sometimes it’s difficult to know who Erasmus was intending to rotate, which is probably demonstrated by having Eben Etzebeth among the replacements, but De Jager’s demotion feels tactical after the lineout woes at Ellis Park.

The Springboks were completely outdone by the Wallabies in the air, and as a result, Erasmus has brought in Ruan Nortje ahead of De Jager. Nortje was exceptional in the set-piece against Italy and the Boks will hope he has the same effect this weekend.

Bongi Mbonambi

As mentioned before, Erasmus could have jettisoned one or the other when it came to the hooking department, but it is Mbonambi who has paid the price for the loss. There has been a worry about the 34-year-old’s darts for a while and that came to a head in Johannesburg.

Marnus van der Merwe has duly been added to the bench instead of Mbonambi and will seek to provide the Springboks with some consistency in the set-piece. Should Van der Merwe excel, it will put him in a good position looking towards the 2027 Rugby World Cup.

Manie Libbok

Erasmus did state last week that Handre Pollard and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu would be the two fly-halves for the Cape Town clash, but it will still be galling for Libbok not to see his name on the teamsheet for this encounter.

Before the Rugby Championship opener, it felt like the three fly-half options were evenly matched and selection would very much be based on their tactics and South Africa’s opposition, but that could change this weekend.

Libbok could have done significant damage to his Boks hopes and both Pollard and Feinberg-Mngomezulu could very much make the pecking order look much clearer for Erasmus with fine displays in Cape Town.

Aphelele Fassi

Another call, which very much feels performance-related after Fassi struggled in Johannesburg. He had a fantastic 2024 and probably remains the first-choice full-back, but Erasmus is right to take him out of the team for the upcoming contest. Fassi simply made far too many errors at the weekend to justify being picked again.

Unlucky four

While poor results and performances tend to lead to changes, it can also result in a more conservative approach to selection. Erasmus was set to experiment this weekend had they won, handing chances to some of those fringe players who have not seen much Test action, but those plans changed with that defeat to the Wallabies.

Erasmus revealed that Morne van den Berg, Vincent Koch, Ethan Hooker and Cobus Wiese were set to feature in Cape Town, but they have now been denied that opportunity. It has become an absolute must-win for the Boks and, as a result, the head coach cannot afford to give opportunities to those lower down the pecking order.