Five things we’ve learned about the Springboks so far this year

The Springboks have made a promising start to the 2026 internation season, wining all four games they have played so far.

They beat the Barbarians 80-31 in a friendly season-opener towards the end of June and then won all three Nations Championship matches this month – against England (45-21), Scotland (42-28) and Wales (43-0).

Ahead of the one-off away Test against Argentina in Buenos Aires on 8 August and the four Test series against the All Blacks in August and September, here are five things we’ve learned about the Boks so far this season.

Unreal depth in all positions

Coach Rassie Erasmus has built quality depth across his squad, giving a number of players a chance to show what they can do. If you factor in the men who played for the SA A team against Zimbabwe, Erasmus has had a good look at several men over the four matches.

In some positions the Boks are four players deep. Erasmus also picked four different teams this season, and no matter who started or played off the bench, the Boks still won well.

The find of the season so far is flanker Paul de Villiers, but U20 stars Vusi Moyo and Jaco Williams also got their shots, as did several fringe men who grabbed their chance.

No Kolisi, Etzebeth and Sacha, no problem

Continuing on from the above point, it is quite scary to think the Boks beat all-comers to South Africa over the last month without the likes of Siya Kolisi, Eben Etzebeth and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu in the mix. They were injured.

But, there are more … Lood de Jager didn’t play, neither did RG Snyman, Bongi Mbonambi, Jean Kleyn, Jaden Hendrikse and Morné van den Berg. Ethan Hooker only played for a few minutes, as did Canan Moodie.

Despite missing all these players, the Boks were pretty okay. But, the good news is, many of them will be back in action soon.

Veteran World Cup winners still tops

There was a time after the 2023 World Cup when questions were asked about the longevity of several of the older double cup winners, such as Kolisi, Etzebeth, De Jager, Mbonambi, Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende, Handré Pollard and Franco Mostert. Well, as we’ve seen, most of them are still going strong.

And with many of them injured and not playing currently they’ve added years to their careers so it’s all worked out pretty well for Erasmus and Co.

The only vets who’ve given up or aren’t really in the picture anymore include Willie le Roux, Faf de Klerk, Duane Vemeulen, Frans Malherbe, Vincent Koch, Trevor Nyakane and Steven Kitshoff.

Boks have yet to be properly tested

The Boks have won all the matches they’ve played this year without too much of a fuss. They easily got the better of the Barbarians and were never really troubled by England. Wales hardly fired a shot, while Scotland were the toughest team to face and asked a few questions, but there was never really any doubt the Boks would win.

So, we don’t quite know how they’ll respond under real pressure, or when behind on the scoreboard.

Not once were they forced into considering kicking a penalty or two to keep the scoreboard ticking over.

And we don’t know how that chosen kicker would respond. This season Cheslin Kolbe, Quan Horn, Pollard, Moyo and Manie Libbok have handled the goal kicks.

Basic Boks, so what’s Rassie hiding?

While the Nations Championship competition is new and pretty cool and something the Boks would like to win, the Greatest Rivalry series is really what matters this season.

Up to now, the Boks have played solid, decent rugby. Their set-pieces have generally been good, they’ve contested well at the breakdowns and their attacking play has been encouraging. Defensively they’ve not been too bad, though they have leaked some tries.

It’s been standard fare though. There have been no gimmicks or wild experiments, or something out of the ordinary, like we’ve seen before at times, so it almost feels un-Rassie like.

Is he then perhaps holding something back for the Tests against the All Blacks? I wouldn’t be at all surprised.