Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has once again pinned his colours to the familiar Springbok mast, keeping faith in the core of the squad that battered down the All Black gates in New Zealand as the Boks march into their decisive Rugby Championship duels with Argentina.
After a brief breather with family, the Boks reconvene in Durban this week, trading slippers for studs as they sharpen their claws for back-to-back battles.
The first tackle the Pumas at Kings Park on 27 September, then under the London lights at Twickenham on 4 October.
With just a single point separating all four contenders, the Championship table looks like a dogfight in a phone booth.
Every point will be a punch, every penalty a body blow.
Apart from a few injured players, Rassie Erasmus has retained the core of the #Springboks squad for the Tests against Argentina 👊
Limited tickets for Durban still available: https://t.co/rXSrJ433va 🎟 #ForeverGreenForeverGold— Springboks (@Springboks) September 17, 2025
Injury has robbed Erasmus of some heavy artillery. Lood de Jager, Jean-Luc du Preez, and Aphelele Fassi are sidelined, with Kurt-Lee Arendse and Frans Malherbe also off the field of play. But the Bok coach isn’t losing sleep because he is confident in his quad depth.
“This group of players have been together for over 13 weeks now, and they’ve shown that they are the right players for this big task against the Pumas,” Erasmus said.
“We’ve chopped and changed our squad a fair bit this season, playing a total of 46 players in our last eight matches, including in the Barbarians match.
“By training together almost daily, we are confident that these are the players who can give us the best shot to try to retain the title.”
Erasmus believes the blend of seasoned warriors and rising stars has forged a steel-hard edge in the squad.
“The fact that the younger and older guys have been training with one another and against one another on the field almost daily really paid off last weekend.
“We have no doubt that if we continue showing our faith in these players, we will get the best out of them,” he said.
The coach also tipped his cap to the army of players knocking on the door.
“The bonus for us is that we still have so many players who have been in the system and attended our alignment camps in the last few seasons, and who have been knocking hard on the door, but unfortunately, we could only select a limited number of players for these matches, so we will continue to keep an eye on the others.”
Still, he acknowledged the sting of losing key campaigners:
“We are blessed with talent in South Africa, so as sad as we are for players such as Lood, Jean-Luc, Aphelele, Kurt-Lee, and many others, we have capable guys to fill their boots.
“We are also fortunate to have so many versatile players who can play a few different positions, and they are equally adept in each of them, regardless of what position they play.”
Looking ahead, Erasmus knows the Pumas won’t arrive in Durban to make up the numbers. Fresh from scalping the Wallabies, with previous scalps of the All Blacks and Lions tucked under their belts, Argentina come snarling, all fire and muscle.
“The Pumas are a tough and physical outfit, and they’ll come to South Africa full of confidence after beating Australia 28-26 last weekend and knowing that they beat us in Santiago Del Estero last year, as well as the All Blacks earlier in the competition,” Erasmus warned.
“They have quality forwards and backs, and they play with guts and passion, so we know it will take two great performances to beat them and hopefully reclaim the Castle Lager Rugby Championship title.
“The next two games are going to be vital for all four teams because there is so little between them in terms of the way they play, and given how close the standings are.
“Any team can still win the competition, so there is no margin for error, and every point will count. These are going to be massive battles.”
Springbok Squad vs Argentina
Forwards (18): Pieter-Steph du Toit, Thomas du Toit, Eben Etzebeth, Vincent Koch, Siya Kolisi, Wilco Louw, Malcolm Marx, Bongi Mbonambi, Franco Mostert, Ox Nche, Ruan Nortje, Kwagga Smith, RG Snyman, Marnus van der Merwe, Marco van Staden, Boan Venter, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Jasper Wiese.
Backs (15): Damian de Allende, Faf de Klerk, Andre Esterhuizen, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Ethan Hooker, Cheslin Kolbe, Jesse Kriel, Manie Libbok, Makazole Mapimpi, Canan Moodie, Handré Pollard, Cobus Reinach, Morne van den Berg, Damian Willemse, Grant Williams.
