A look at the Springbok combinations

Rassie Erasmus has named a strong side to take on England in their opening Nations Championship game. The Springbok side are defending World Champions, ranked number one in the world and have one of the most innovative coaching teams the game has seen, while England, not so long ago, were on a 12 month unbeaten streak and building to be true contenders at the 2027 RWC but have had a rocky 2026. We take a look at the combinations Rassie Erasmus has named and how experienced they are.

The front row have started together five times in the past and while that sounds like they have named an inexperienced group, they collectively have 166 test appearances between them with Thomas du Toit the least experienced on 32.

Etzebeth and Nortje have started six tests together but it goes without saying that they are a formidable pairing with the enforcer being the most capped South African test player and Nortje responsible for steadying the shaky line out when they faulter in the last couple of seasons

The loose trio of Kolisi, du Toit and Wiese is the third highest starting combination in Springbok history and will move joint second on Saturday. They are three games away from being the most capped starting loose forward group for the country with Louw, Alberts and Vermeulen on 17 tests.

Williams and Libbok are starting their fifth test together and are a long way off the leading pair of de Klerk and Pollard with 27 tests

This is the 42nd time de Allende and Kriel pair up and by far the most experienced combination Erasmus has named. The next closest is de Villiers and Fourie on 29 appearances.

The back three group move into the top 10 most capped Springboks starting with Kolbe featuring heavily on the list as expected.