Erasmus pleased with Springbok depth test as attention turns to Scotland

Gallery Video

RUGBY NEWS - Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus was happy that his team were able to overcome the sudden loss of two senior players just before their opening Nations Championship match against England at Ellis Park on Saturday, and still go on to win 45-21.

Word started filtering through shortly before kick-off on Saturday that both captain Siya Kolisi and lock Eben Etzebeth had withdrawn from the match day squad and would be replaced by Paul de Villiers and Cameron Hanekom respectively.

That saw the Boks lose an incredible 244 Test caps of experience, replaced by just one cap as the match was De Villiers’ debut, while Hanekom had played for the Boks only once previously.

Pieter-Steph du Toit shifted from the side of the scrum to four lock to accommodate the inclusion of Hanekom, while he also took over the captaincy.

In the end, despite a stern test from the English, particularly in the second part of the first half, the Boks emerged with a good win to get their season up and running.

Lovely handling ??

The Springboks have their fifth try of the night ??

?? Stream #NationsChampionship on DStv: https://t.co/0P0NNhnwKw pic.twitter.com/8YR2NaD0Ct
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) July 4, 2026

Courage to rotate

“With the number of players we have in the squad we always wonder where we are going to give everyone a chance but we have a saying in the team that it will come to us. Today it came to us,” Erasmus said after the match.

“It takes a lot of courage to rotate players in and out, especially in a new competition. We’ll have to make some big calls this year to be 100% sure about next year, that when we go into the World Cup, we’ve tested our depth.

“Today, circumstances took charge of that, and luckily it worked out the right way. We hadn’t played for seven months, there was going to be rust, but we kept going and got the result.”

The South African flag proudly in display at the recent match against England.

Preparing to face Scotland

The Boks now turn their attention to a fired-up Scotland, who proved their solid Six Nations campaign earlier this year wasn’t a fluke as they beat Argentina 47-38 in a high-scoring game in Cordoba at the weekend, and they head to Loftus Versfeld this week with plenty of confidence.

PHOTO GALLERY: See more photos here.

????????????????: Rassie Erasmus names his Springbok team to face Scotland in the #NationsChampionship on Saturday at Loftus, making a host of changes ??????????????????#SSRugby pic.twitter.com/nFsaoYxYpB
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) July 6, 2026

However, the Boks will be waiting for news on a number of injury concerns, including Kolisi, Etzebeth and Ox Nché, who was replaced early on against England with a knee injury, and second-half replacement Andre Esterhuizen, who went off with concussion.

Etzebeth likely has the best chance to be ready to face Scotland, with his head knock happening in training early last week, while Kolisi’s availability will depend on the severity of his hamstring strain.

Erasmus said he believed Nché could face an extended spell on the sideline, while Esterhuizen will likely only be back for their match against Wales in Durban next weekend.

Siya Kolisie and team mates supporting the match against England on Saturday. Photos: The Citizen