Legendary All Blacks head coach Sir Steve Hansen has praised South Africa’s pathways, which are producing the next generation of Springboks.
Former Melbourne Rebels head coach Dave Wessels was appointed as SA Rugby’s General Manager in 2024 and currently runs the youth-level structures along with Junior Springboks head coach Kevin Foote.
His arrival led to immediate success with South Africa winning the 2025 World Rugby Junior World Championship and are now aiming to go back-to-back for the first time when they collide with France in the final on Saturday.
Sir Steve Hansen on Vusi Moyo’s selection
The performances of the U20s has been recognised by the Springboks coaching team, with Rassie Erasmus calling up the likes of Riley Norton and Vusi Moyo this July, with both players featuring against the Barbarians. The latter will now make his Test debut this weekend with his Junior Boks teammate from last season, Jaco Williams, starting on the wing against Wales.
Moyo has been partnered with Cobus Reinach in the half-backs and has Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel in the midfield for the clash in Durban. Hansen believes that the young Sharks playmaker has been set-up perfectly to thrive in his Test debut and is not surprised that the fly-half, who is still eligible to play for the U20s, is getting a run-out against the Welsh.
“Age has got nothing to do with it; if you’re good enough, then you’re good enough, and we’ve seen through these World Rugby U20 tournaments that South Africa has produced players year in, year out, and some of them are outstanding,” the 2015 World Cup-winning coach said on the Rugby Unity podcast.
“He has got the opportunity, and no disrespect to Wales, but South Africa feel that they can beat them with the team they’re selecting, so why wouldn’t you take the opportunity to give three or four players another opportunity to grow and learn and feel what it’s like.
“It’s at home, they’ve got all the advantages of being surrounded by quality people. The first-five has got De Allende and Jesse Kriel – who are probably their number one midfield combo outside him. So, he’s going to be well looked after. It’s not surprising he’s gone to cupboard and exposed a few more people.”
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Rassie experiments around the edges
Hansen was joined on the podcast by former Wallabies head coach Ewen McKenzie, who once again praised Erasmus for the manner in which he introduces new players to the international scene, pairing them with experienced campaigners.
“It’s what Rassie does; he experiments around the edges with potentially good players, but the core guys are still there,” he said, echoing his sentiments from earlier in the week.
“Marx at hooker, Wiese at number eight, Du Toit is captain and is always there, Cobus Reinach at nine, he’s experienced. They’ve got guys around Moyo, who’s going to look after him.
“Steve has mentioned De Allende and Kriel, so you’ve got a really good core of experienced World Cup winners right through the team there, and then the smattering of guys around the edges who they’re going to develop. So, it’s a pretty good blend. Then you have got Libbok and Willemse on the bench; Van Staden is a hard nut.
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“Same with the front-row; they have got plenty to come into the game off the bench, which is trademark Rassie as well. So, they’re pretty well set up to put it to Wales.
“Wales will be willing; they’ve been improving gradually. They have got some key individuals who are their spine, and they’re starting to look better and to be consistent too as a team, and we’ll just see how it goes, but it’s a good-looking South African side with a bit of development too.”
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Praise for South Africa’s structures
Hansen was then asked whether he had “ever seen a squad as large and as deep as the South African one now?” The experienced coach didn’t give a straightforward answer to the question but said that Erasmus is doing a good job in building the depth, but added that structures are producing the talent for him to utilise.
“Back in 2007 to 2009, the All Blacks did a similar thing,” Hansen said.
“We were trying to develop two squads and did similar things like you kept the core of your playing group playing it, and then you just kept adding a little bit of flavour to it and giving people opportunities and giving them a taste and getting them hungry.
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“Rassie is doing that really, really well. He’s done it probably for the last three or four years, hasn’t he? And they’ve packed that up with some great player pathway through into their under-20s; whoever is running that program for them is doing a wonderful job.
“I may be wrong, but they’ve either been in the top four, if not the top two, in that U20 World Cup just about every year for the last four or five years, and that’s where you get your next generation of players from. So their pathways are working really, really well for them, I think. France is doing the same thing.”