{"id":636402,"date":"2026-06-13T09:17:11","date_gmt":"2026-06-13T09:17:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/636402\/"},"modified":"2026-06-13T09:17:11","modified_gmt":"2026-06-13T09:17:11","slug":"rassie-erasmus-reveals-plan-to-capture-top-junior-springbok-talents-it-is-our-second-ranked-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/636402\/","title":{"rendered":"Rassie Erasmus reveals plan to capture top Junior Springbok talents: ‘It is our second-ranked team’"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Rassie Erasmus has revealed the objectives for the South Africa A game against Zimbabwe next weekend as SA Rugby looks to \u2018capture\u2019 top Junior Springboks talents.<\/p>\n

Mzwandile Stick has been confirmed as the team\u2019s head coach for the Springboks<\/a> versus Barbarians curtain-raiser clash against South Africa\u2019s neighbours, with Erasmus<\/a> revealing that SA Rugby has one ulterior motive for the fixture outside of getting youngsters to experience the Bok environment.<\/p>\n

That is to tie several of the country\u2019s top rising stars to the Springboks through South Africa\u2019s second-ranked team. As per World Rugby regulation nine, unions are permitted to nominate one senior team beyond the main international<\/a> team, which ties a player to that country.<\/p>\n

Since 2018, unions have not been allowed to designate their Under 20s National Representative Team as their next senior National Representative Team. So this year, the SA\u2019A team will be South Africa\u2019s second senior team, and because they are facing an international side in Zimbabwe, players who feature against the Sables will have their international allegiance tied to South Africa.<\/p>\n

SA\u2019A clash will capture youngsters for the Springboks<\/p>\n

Speaking to the media earlier this week, Erasmus confirmed that the match will capture players and was one of the objectives for the fixture.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope to get some guys comfortable in the setup. The second is to get them into our game plan and the way we want to do things. We can\u2019t analyse Zimbabwe, but they\u2019re a World Cup team,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen to get injured players and players who haven\u2019t played a lot in the last few months and get them game time. Then the ideal thing would be that the things that we trained in the two weeks actually pans out on the field like we want it to.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen, the SA\u2019A team also captures quite a lot of players because it is our second-ranked team, and we play against a nation that is going to the World Cup, where all players in that game are captured.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rassie Erasmus unfazed by lengthy Springboks injury list: \u2018We are not in trouble\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

Battling player poaching<\/p>\n

What this means is that players who don the SA\u2019A jersey in Gbertha will be unable to represent another nation unless they meet World Rugby\u2019s Birthright Transfer regulations. They would need to have been born, or have a parent or grandparent born, in the nation which they wish to they wish to transfer, and then complete a three-year stand-down period and obtain the approval of World Rugby.<\/p>\n

Essentially, SA Rugby could tie 23 of the country\u2019s top talents to the Springboks against Zimbabwe, meaning that they would not be able to play for another international team through residency, like player like Duhan van der Merwe, Pierre Schoeman and Paul Willemse.<\/p>\n

This perhaps further explains why Erasmus invited so many of the South African U20 players into the camp for the double header in PE despite Kevin Foote\u2019s team preparing for the upcoming World Rugby U20 Championship.<\/p>\n

It also comes amid SA Rugby high-performance GM Dave Wessels\u2019 complaints about player poaching, particularly from northern hemisphere nations<\/a>, with the former Melbourne Rebels boss bemoaning the lack of compensation for countries who are exporters of talent.<\/p>\n

Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for world-class coverage you can trust.<\/p>\n

When Bishops back Rynard Gordon joined Ulster\u2019s academy, Wessels took to social media and quipped: \u201cWe must get the @IRFURugby a Loyalty Shopper Rewards card!\u201d, referring to the fact that former Rondebosch and SA U18 flank Josh Neill linked up with Leinster\u2019s academy earlier this year and has since represented Ireland U20.<\/p>\n

The ploy also comes after England received a rare exemption to select Bristol Bears centre Benhard Janse van Rensburg on exceptional circumstances grounds. The 29-year-old represented the Junior Boks when they were allowed to be nominated as the second senior team but now qualifies under residency grounds for England with World Rugby deeming that his 20 minutes off the bench in the third-fourth play-off should not forever preclude him from international rugby.<\/p>\n

Springboks prepared for Tony Brown\u2019s All Blacks return as Rassie Erasmus holds no grudges: \u2018We can\u2019t be angry\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

Junior Boks are almost \u2018Test-match ready\u2019<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Erasmus hailed the work of Wessels and Foote for their work with the youth structures in South Africa.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are lucky with Dave Wessels, Kevin Foote and Felix Jones, who help us coordinate things between the different teams,\u201d the Boks head coach added.<\/p>\n

\u201cDaan Human helps the Junior Boks, even though they have their own scrum coach; Deon Davids goes and helps with their lineouts, so we interact a lot with them. But having them here and looking in the guys\u2019 eyes and seeing if they understand [what we are about].<\/p>\n

\u201cI just really think we\u2019ve got a bunch of youngsters who are coming through who are really well-drilled, professional guys who understand what rugby is about, and it\u2019s now for them to see how quickly they can transfer that into a match. A lot of them will get a chance against the Zimbabwe team, and a couple of them will also get a chance against the Barbarians.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe two teams have been picked; the players know who they are.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cWhat Dave and Kevin are doing is that they are giving us a product that is almost Test match-level ready. We\u2019ll see when they play, but it feels like these guys are ready.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Faf de Klerk: \u2018Once you lose that amazing feeling, you should rather stop\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

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