Let's see if we can list the best like-for-like replacement for the returning guys. In other words, not players who are good in that position but rather players that can do the specific job the current incumbent does.
For example, Cam isn't a like for like swap for Wiese, even though one could argue, though i wouldn't, that he's a better 8 over all.
We're looking for players that can do the thing the current incumbent does best at a similar level.
I've only listed players that will retire immediately or soon after the RWC and/or who for whom replacements have not yet been confirmed.
Ox - Nobody I can think of
Marx - Wessels
Wilco - Nobody I can think of
Eben - Kobus Wiese
PSDT - Cam(Can do the same and more)
Kolisi - Roos
Wiese - Ruan Venter(The only player in SA that runs into traffic more successfully than Wiese. Yet we've not seen him at Test level)
DDA/AE - Nobody I can think of unless a flanker, or Roos, is converted)
Kriel - Hooker
Kolbe - Maybe, big maybe, Jooste. Yes, Rooi, Gili did come to mind and let's see what he does this year.
1 is a major concern. Ox is easily the foundation upon which all our success is currently built. For me, that much is abundantly clear. I actually can't see anybody coming in and having the success and impact that he has.
3 is also a problem. Wilco is immovable at tighthead and I also can't think of anyone that is gonna come in and provide the stability that he does. Keep in mind, we're talking about somebody that can come in a do it for at least five years.
12 I don't think what DDA does is extremely special, but we have zero test quality 12s in any of our URC sides. Not a single one, and AE will retire soon after DDA too. Yes, some here like Willemse, but the mandate is to find players that do what the current incumbent does, not simply guys that we think will be good in that position.
Marx will leave big shoes to fill but I think that Wessels can get close'ish to Marx. He'll probably never reach Marx's level though.
We're never gonna find anybody that does what Eben does. That's simply not gonna happen so in his position we are simply looking for a good 4. I'd go with Kobus Wiese and only because he looks like a bouncer from Welkom and we know that if rugby didn't exist Eben would be standing outside a nightclub in Cape Town right now.
In summary, I guess, if we are able to find good front row replacements and then also a like for like swap for DDA/AE then Rassie will be able to continue to play Rassie ball.
However, what if we can't find a front row as dominant? Suddenly we don't have the dominant scrums and that makes us more circumspect about highballs because knockons won't provide the advantage they have of late. Teams will be able to run the ball even more against us because once Ox and Wilco are gone the Bok scrum might very well simply be a restart at that point.
Again, we are looking for like-for-like replacements. And we are doing that because we are assuming that between 2027 and 2031 Rassie will not want to change how the Boks play. And we base that on the fact that since 2018 the Boks have never changed how they play so it's most likely that they won't suddenly switch up and will instead continue along the same path.
Who are your picks/suggestions?
