Let the kids play: Players that should get a crack in 2025

As mentioned previously, the boks will have a real soft start to the season with opening games against Italy and Georgia, followed by home test against Australia and Argentina before they head over to NZ to see if they can final win two games back to back against the old foe. 

We all have been really impressed with some of the younger players, but I really think Rassie has an opportunity to blood some youngster. To think that Willemse is already 26 and I still think that he is this 19 year old wunderkid 

Amongst the forwards, not many players under 23. Under 23 will be my criteria for the first 3 games with a transition to the older players and the the starters leading up to the All Black series. 

1. Wessels
2. Andre Hugo Venter 21
3. ?
4. Rahl 21
5. Ruben Van Heerden
6. ?
7. Ruan Venter 22
8. Hannekom 21
9. Hendrikse 24?
10. Sasha 22
11. Jurenzo Julius
12. Hooker 21
13. Henco van Wyk 23
14. Moodie 22
15. ? 

The real lock that played  good ganes at lock was  Schickerling -  he was better than the playes Dave mentioned,   Steenekamp is the one prop I would include.  Nche has gone backwards in performance and I think he should get his mojo back.

Hooker ws not good enough last week - but which o the sharks did better?   Noe I can think of,

The player that sould fit into the team is Damian Willemse - he needs game time badly.    .   .  

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How about Wessels at hooker. Could he be another Marx type of hooker?

Good spot on Weasels, that guy is a freak. He could even play at 7 or 6. What a player. Hope they can find a spot for him in the squad. 

Both him and Venter got bok caps. I see Dwebe has slipped down the pecking order at the stormers. 

Would love to see these guys get an outing 

I’d select Libbok for all 3 games. We need the reliable steadying influence and robust defense in 10 channel of a man like Libbok. Goal kicking is much overrated. And given the object of all this is to discover more about our youngsters, why not find our more about 27 year old Libbok. So it’s Libbok for me.

Libbok….and the Year of Living Dangerously!

Libbok and Braveheart

Little point in throwing such a random side as your second Italy one into the fray. Nothing will be learned from it, and chances are very good that they'll lose.

The right way to do this is always to have a core of the existing team, with your most promising newbies playing in with them.  You judge them more effectively against their colleagues than you do against weak opponents.

Having a team of newbies tells you little and wastes an opportunity to test the more risky elements in your strategy.

Well the genius will undoubtedly be in my corner.

Hahaha…..now there’s some screwed up logic.

Three WC’s in a row will never be matched ever again

Don't know about never being matched again but I know it will be awfully hard.

Rassie is so far ahead of any other coach and has the runs on the board to prove it.

Suck it up!

Actually he has only won two in a row moron. It will never be matched again because it hasn’t happened….hahaha. No wonder Peeper calls you Dense.

Actually my post wasn't directed at you......and you knew that. You're just spoiling for a fight......I know you are, ever since I disagreed with you.......as I've said you're a top bloke as long as one agrees with everything you say......kinda Trump like.

But here's the kicker......No wonder Peeper calls you Dense. Lets say I am. So then based on that logic there is no wonder why Rooinek calls you Moffie?

But picking a few of the older more experienced ones to guide them, makes sense as well.

Agreed, Rassie has made some mistakes in the past but he gets a lot more right than what he gets wrong. He's bang on track to win a third WC. Matter of fact if they had the WC next week then there is no better prepared team to win it than the Boks.

MPOWER, yeah I think those are good suggestions. However, players that are over 26 or 27 could be included but not as Rookies in these games and could potentially find other routes into the team. 

Right now we have the World Cup double boks that are not 30+ with an average age 33 if you look at De Allende, Kolisi, Malherbe, Kitshoff, Bongi etc. We know that Willie and Mpimpi would probably be their last season this year. But I think we are covered in the back 3. 

Cobus Wiese is already 27. 

So if you pick players that are under 23, then by the time the next world cup comes around they would be around 24 - 26. With about 30 test left to get them some crucial experience over the coming seasons. There will be some real testing games for them to be introduced into. We have the All Blacks away and then an official All Black tour of SA which should be amazing. That will give the fringe guys to play in A games and truly show how good they are. We play France in France this year, which will also be great for this youngsters to come through. 

So I hope that the likes of Cameron, Sasha, Moodie, Wessels have around 30 caps by the time the World Cup comes around and it will make our squad so much stronger. If one of them breaks down then it is easy for Rassie to still call on Kolisi which will be 36 or even Eben. But at least he won't sit with a team of 35+ that will take longer to recover plus there will be now a round of 16. Which means all teams have win 4 games in a row if the want to lift the trophy. Then there is the luck of the draw which 23 the boks played the top 5 teams in the world in a space of 8 weeks. With France, Eng and NZ in the final. Having to play Scotland and Ireland in the lead up. 

Rassie's plan is to extend the careers of his oldies. Rassie is smart, knows the value of his oldies and also knows that it's nigh impossible to replace their value leading into the WC. Some of them might go one way or another but he'll hang onto the irreplaceable Etzebeth, Marx, Steph and a few others.

I have to agree with you Denny. I actually saw De Allende in one of the high light reels over the weekend where he actually step around a defender, ran into space, made a line break and then gave a perfect left handed pass for the winger to score. I have never seen him actually glide through the gap like that, ball in both hands and then get such a good pass away. 

As long as these guys play in Japan, they will have a long career ahead of them. 

Wiese, Marx, Faf, Kolbe, Kwagga, Kriel, De Allende, Arendse are all playing well in Japan. Now we just need Pollard and Eben to go to Japan and job done. Given that their season starts in December and then ends in April, with a decent recovery period before the t est window, win win. 

Mate, I'm telling you, Rassie has the RWC sussed, his plan is to extend the careers of the oldies, it won't extend if he plays his best side in every test. At the same time h e is also building a seamless B side, a side that is ready to fire on all cylinders from the get go. I've never been as confident about Rassie as what I am at this moment in time.

In the history of the RWC there has never been a better prepared side than the current Boks. Rassie is not going to exhaust his best side by playing them on a regular basis, that is just dumb.

A lot is going to depend upon how Rassie manages the oldies and how effectively the oldies hold up.......let's not forget that no-one beats father time. So Rassie would have to keep the oldies ticking over but at the same time energized. That is Rassie's challenge and he's fully aware it's the only way his plan will work. He only has to manipulate their contribution for three games of the WC which is the quarters, semi's and final to achieve maximum benefit from his plan.

As an example one is reminded of that memorable semi in the RWC when England played out of their skin to beat the AB's but had nothing left in the tank against the Boks the following week to realise where Rassie is coming from. Rassie's plan won't allow what happened to England to happen to the Boks.

And while the opposition prepares they will also have to prepare for the added individual brilliance and fire power at Rassie's disposal.....which is Williams, Sacha, Moodie, Fassie and Willemse not to mention Kolbe and Arendse.

Bring it on, it seems like there are interesting and exciting times ahead for Bok rugby who are fortunate to have a coach like Rassie pulling the strings.