The Springboks begin their 2026 season with a match against the Barbarians, which is designed to pump some oil into rusty machinery as the world champion juggernaut enters a five-month period in which they play 12 Tests, all against tier one opposition.
The first match is the long-awaited clash against England on July 4, and it is with that colossal showdown in mind that Rassie Erasmus has picked his squad for the Barbarians.
The coach’s multi-layered goals for the Nelson Mandela Bay encounter is to give game time to rusty players based in Japan (they have not played for some time); to do the same for URC players who have been idle for a while (the Sharks players); to give exposure to up-and-coming talent (Riley Norton, Vusi Moyo, Paul de Villiers, Zachery Porthen); and to experiment a little (Quan Horn at flyhalf).
All of this without using the 16 Springboks that are playing for the Bulls in the URC final.
It is testimony to Erasmus’s brilliant depth building over the last three seasons that the resulting squad for Gqeberha still manages to look like a first-rate Springbok team.
As captain Siya Kolisi said on the eve of the match: “One of the things that keeps this group hungry is the competition.
“Nobody can settle, and nobody can be comfortable because you don’t want that in the team. You know there’s always somebody coming through who is as good as you, if not better.
“It’s really good to see how the Under-20 guys have raised the standard of training.
“This has probably been the hardest camp we’ve had because the intensity has been so high.”
Up against the Boks is a Barbarians team that is far superior to the combination that did duty a year ago in Cape Town.
Coached by Scott Robertson and Felipe Contepomi, the side is packed with current internationals.
The Boks know this and are taking the match very seriously.
“We’re playing a Test match in our minds because we’re representing South Africa and guys are getting an opportunity,” Kolisi said.
“It’s our first game of the season, so we want to make sure everything we’ve worked on during the off-season and the past week comes together.
“We want to play like it’s a Test match because we’re preparing for what lies ahead.
“A lot of us are playing for positions and trying to make the bigger squad that will be involved later in the season.”
Zooming in on the match itself, Kolisi said: “There’s a lot of magic in the backline, and our job as a forward pack is to give them the best platform to express themselves and use their talent.
“We’ve got a lot of experienced guys in the pack, and many players are hungry for an opportunity in the Springbok jersey as well. That said, the focus will be on our game, and it’s important to be disciplined in what we do.”
Teams:
South Africa: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Edwill van der Merwe, 10 Quan Horn, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Riley Norton, 3 Carlu Sadie, 2 Andre-Hugo Venter, 1 Ox Nche. Replacements: 16 JJ Kotze, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Zachary Porthen, 19 Ben-Jason Dixon, 20 Paul de Villiers, 21 Evan Roos, 22 Faf de Klerk, 23 Vusi Moyo.
Barbarian F.C: 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Andrew Kellaway, 13 Virimi Vakatawa, 12 Alex Nankivell, 11 Duhan van der Merwe, 10 Tomás Albornoz, 9 TJ Perenara (captain), 8 Miracle Fai’ilagi, 7 Lachlan Boshier, 6 Guido Petti, 5 Alex Moon, 4 Franco Molina, 3 D’Arcy Rae, 2 Elliot Dee, 1 Mayko Vivas Replacements: 16 Leonel Oviedo, 17 Oli Kebble, 18 Pedro Delgado, 19 Izack Rodda, 20 Liam McConnell, 21 Santiago Arata, 22 Harry Plummer, 23 Tuidraki Samusamuvodre
Kick-off: 3pm.
