Jasper Wiese will win his 50th Springbok cap in Perth on Sunday, just five years after making his Test debut against Georgia — a rapid rise that reflects the importance he has assumed in the Bok set-up.
The 30-year-old has averaged 10 Tests a year since his debut in 2021, despite missing four matches through suspension in 2025 after being sent off for head-butting an Italian in Port Elizabeth.
Wiese is so entrenched at No 8 that there is a continual debate over who would replace him if he gets injured. There are no clear successors, although Cameron Hanekom showed in the third and fourth Tests against the All Blacks that he is at the front of the queue.
There is also veteran Kwagga Smith, but he won’t play this year because of a serious injury and turns 34 next year. Evan Roos is another contender, but has not featured highly in Rassie Erasmus’s plans.
Duane Vermeulen, who played alongside Wiese before becoming one of his coaches, believes there is still plenty more to come from the powerful No 8.
“It’s amazing,” Vermeulen said.
“Time flew by quickly because he got to this milestone a lot faster than I did. He is an awesome player and a really big stalwart in the team. He became a leader in the core group in the last couple of years.
“He’s your go-to guy when you want go-forward ball, and he’s really been playing well. It’s a fantastic achievement, and I’m looking forward to a helluva lot more that we can get from him.”
Wiese will mark his 50th cap unusually, however, with Erasmus selecting him on the bench for the Perth Test.
With Marco van Staden being tested at No 8, Erasmus sees Wiese as valuable insurance in a Springbok side that contains sweeping changes from the team that played in the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series.
“We normally want a guy like Jasper to start a game, but we feel that with the team that we’ve selected, maybe we get momentum early and things go well,” Erasmus said.
“But, of course, we are playing Australia away from home. They beat Argentina, and smashed Japan, and they play the Bledisloe Cup against New Zealand right after us. I think they are in the middle of finding their form.
“We would’ve loved to start Jasper, but we feel we need some security on the bench.”
Erasmus believes Wiese’s willingness to accept a role that will see him enter the match later than usual says much about how he has developed as a leader.
“We are pretty sure that the guys who are starting will be energetic, and there might be some combination hiccups, so Wiese agreeing to play off the bench is a sign of the guy he is,” Erasmus said.
“He is actually talking more now than when he did in the past, and he has become a great leader in our team.
“Jasper was also a good option to be captain for a game like this, but we felt that he is a nice guy to correct things if it goes wrong. He agreed that playing off the bench will be the best for the team in this game.”
And Vermeulen expects the 50-cap milestone to be far from the end of Wiese’s contribution.
“It’s a great milestone. There is loads to come.”
