Rassie Erasmus is being commended for poaching England’s head analyst Joe Lewis.
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The Springboks are about three months from their 2026 season kick-off, against England on July 4 in Johannesburg. But interest is slowly building, and we look at some of the positive developments from the last week or so.
Rassie’s latest recruit a masterstroke, says Proudfoot
Former Springbok assistant coach Matt Proudfoot believes performance analyst Joe Lewis is a “brilliant addition” to Rassie Erasmus’s Springbok staff. Welshman Lewis has been poached from under the nose of England coach Steve Borthwick. Proudfoot worked alongside Lewis when Eddie Jones coached England.
“Joe worked closely with the defensive and forward sections of the game,” Proudfoot said. “He spent a lot of time with Steve Borthwick (the then forwards coach). Joe understood lineouts and rolling mauls exceptionally well.
“In the time he was there, England played around 40 Tests without conceding a rolling maul try. “He’s outstanding at analysing the opposition. He’s got a strong work ethic and will do well in Rassie’s environment. He is a brilliant addition to the Bok camp.”
Burger backs Boks to chase Nations Championship silverware.
Bok legend Schalk Burger has shot down speculation that Rassie Erasmus will rest top Boks for the Nations Championship Tests overseas in November.
Burger’s former teammate, Victor Matfield, said he had heard this would be the case as Erasmus manages workloads ahead of the 2027 World Cup.
“I don’t think we will do that because there is no Rugby Championship this year,” Burger said on the Boks Unpacked podcast.
“The only real trophy that we can go win is the Nations Championship because we have the Test series against the All Blacks. This group of players would surely want to win the Nations Championship. We must not forget that we will have a big bunch of players rested from being based in Japan.”
Etzebeth back in business
It wasn’t the winning result the ultra-competitive Eben Etzebeth would have wanted in Galway, but his comeback match for the Sharks was about more than the Challenge Cup.
The 34-year-old — he turns 35 in June — had not played since November 29 last year, when he came on as a substitute in the Springboks’ 73-0 rout of Wales in Cardiff, only to be red-carded for eye-gouging.
His 12-match suspension ended at the end of March, and even a player of Etzebeth’s vast experience would have had butterflies after three months away from the game.
The 141-Test stalwart is a national treasure; he is super-fit, and remains key to the Boks’ hope of beating the All Blacks in the approaching series in South Africa, as well as defending the World Cup next year. His performance was solid, but the main thing he is back on track.
Van der Mescht hoping for Rassie’s call
There has been conjecture that giant Northampton Saints lock JJ van der Mescht is ever closer to playing for the Springboks because of the season-ending injury to a similar type of lock in RG Snyman.
Van der Mescht was invited to the online Springbok session in early March.
“I don’t need to dwell on whether I’m ready or not. Rassie is a very smart man and a great coach. He will know when I’m ready,” he told the podcast Off The Pitch Rugby.
“I always worried and thought, ‘I need to do something special to get into the Springbok team,’” he said. “But lately I’ve just been focusing on my processes, playing rugby, and enjoying it.”
“When I put too much pressure on myself, I started playing badly. I was focusing on the wrong things, playing selfishly and thinking about myself instead of the team.”