Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has unlocked a major discussion in publicly stating that the lock position is one area he feels his back-to-back World Cup winners need reinforcement if they are to create history and win a third successive World Cup. South Africa’s most capped player Eben Etzebeth will return to rugby in March after serving a nine match suspension for eye-gouging a Welsh player in the Springboks 73-0 win in Cardiff in the last Test of 2025. Erasmus has consistently emphasised that no player is guaranteed selection for the 2027 World Cup based on past heroics Erasmus has consistently emphasised that no player is guaranteed selection for the 2027 World Cup based on past heroics.
He is very conscious of age, not necessarily in years, but in how much a player’s body has endured. Erasmus has also never ruled out senior players under the pretence he was building towards a World Cup year. Erasmus has always picked the best available, regardless of age, and integrated the newbies into a system that is filled with the old guard.
Etzebeth’s workload will have to be managed if he is to make it through another 18 months of rugby before the start of the 2027 World Cup in Australia. The same is applicable to veteran Franco Mostert, while recurring injuries continue to frustrate Springbok lock Lood de Jager and Salmaan Moerat. The Bulls captain Ruan Nortje has been a revelation for the Springboks and Leinster-based RG Snyman should be at the peak of his powers in 2027.
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Pieter-Steph du Toit is an option to move back to lock after starting his professional career in the second row, before becoming the most dominant blindside flanker in the sport. When Erasmus says the Boks are thin at lock, he is referencing the quality of depth that has been there since 2019. Erasmus, by going public with his thoughts on the Boks’ second-row stocks, has put some of the senior players on alert, giving the likes of Bulls lock Cobus Wiese, Munster’s Jean Kleyn and Moerat a reminder that nothing is settled, and giving hope to South Africa’s 150kg second-row giant JJ van der Mescht, who is playing for Northamption Saints, having played 87 matches for Stade Francais out of Paris.
Van der Mescht made his professional debut for the Sharks before heading overseas. David Ribbans is another player Erasmus will be eyeing, but the question will be if Ribbans, born and raised in Somerset West, Cape Town, will consider playing for the Springboks after representing England
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