Springboks boss Rassie Erasmus hints that there may be even more rotation next year as they ramp up their preparations ahead of the 2027 Rugby World Cup.<\/b><\/p>\n
Since winning the global tournament in 2023, South Africa have continued to impress, losing just four games over the past two campaigns.<\/p>\n
They have claimed back-to-back Rugby Championship titles and are the undisputed number one side in the world.<\/p>\n
The Boks<\/a> very much proved that during their northern hemisphere tour as they claimed five successive wins, including away triumphs over France and Ireland.<\/p>\n Erasmus<\/a> understands the need to bring through the younger players with most of their double World Cup winners the wrong side of 30, but he believes that they have done that pretty well so far.<\/p>\n Bringing through the next generation<\/p>\n Asked following their 73-0 demolition of Wales about giving more game time to their next generation, the 53-year-old feels that they are already doing so.<\/p>\n \u201cI can probably disagree with you a bit if you don\u2019t mind. Zach (Porthen) is pretty young, Grobbies (Johan Grobbelaar) is 27, Asenathi (Ntlabakanye) is under 30, Ruan (Nortje) is 27,\u201d he told reporters.<\/p>\n \u201cCameron Hanekom was injured, Elrigh (Louw) was injured, Krappies (Morne van den Berg) is 25 or 26, Sacha (Feinberg-Mngomezulu) is 22, Canan (Moodie) is 22, Ethan (Hooker) is 23, Damian Willemse is 27, so we\u2019ve given a lot of guys chances.\u201d<\/p>\n There is still a hugely experienced core to this Springboks team and most of the players may make it through to the World Cup but, if they don\u2019t, those individuals can be safe in the knowledge that they put them in a strong position going into the tournament with the draw next week.<\/p>\n \u201cI know it\u2019s going to sound weird but the Autumn Nations Series is like a mini-World Cup for tier one nations next year,\u201d Erasmus said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis year for us, ending top of the table was pretty important. We never look at the world rankings but this year we didn\u2019t know if it would be beneficial when the [World Cup] draw comes up \u2013 we\u2019re not sure what will happen.\u201d<\/p>\n