Three Springboks who WON’T be selected in 2025

Rassie Erasmus has made a big revelation during the first official Springboks media engagement in Cape Town on Wednesday.

With the Springboks’ gruelling 15-game (potentially 16) schedule for the 2025 calendar year confirmed, Rassie Erasmus stressed the importance of player-management, load-management and squad depth.

With that in mind, Erasmus confirmed, during his session in Wednesday’s media briefing is Cape Town, that with the exception of three Bok stars, every other player – capped and uncapped – who scored or will score an invite the Springbok training camps, are in contention for Test selected this year.

Now you might wonder who those three ineligible Springboks are and why they are not in Erasmus’ plan for the foreseeable future.

Well here’s the crux of it.

Steven Kitshoff, Elrigh Louw and Trevor Nyakane are the ones Erasmus was referring to. The trio suffered long-term injuries, and in Kitshoff’s case it is actually a career-ending one.

Veteran Springbok Trevor Nyakane has opened up about the career threatening injury his suffered a fortnight ago.

SUMMARY OF SPICY PLUM’S INJURY

Springbok legend Steven Kitshoff was forced into premature retirement due to a life-threatening neck injury he sustained during Western Province’s 2023 Currie Cup campaign.

Kitshoff, who missed the entire 2024 international season due to injuries, went under the knife in the hope that corrective surgery might prolong his playing days.

But the 33-year-old prop decided to call time on his storied career after he was advised by a specialist neurosurgeon that there would be a high risk of another injury should he continue playing.

SUMMARY OF BIG TREV’S INJURY

Just over three weeks ago during the Sharks’ 29-19 United Rugby Championship win over the Bulls in Pretoria, the 35-year-old Nyakane twisted his ankle in the 12th minute and had to be helped off the field.

While it was initially hoped that it’s not a serious long-term injury, the Springbok himself later confirmed in a social media post that he had raptured his Achilles tendon and is facing a long road to recovery. 

SUMMARY OF ELRIGH’S INJURY

Utility forward Louw, who plays across the back row, picked up a serious knee injury in the Bulls URC derby against the Lions at Ellis Park on 25 January.

Soon thereafter, it had been confirmed he needed corrective surgery, but in an unexpected turn of events, the operation was delayed due to swelling around the area.

After consultation with a specialist, the 25-year-old Springbok was operated on around mid-February.

The delay in surgery also impacted on his rehabilitation programme and thus is recovery period, which Erasmus has now confirmed won’t be this year.

SPRINGBOKS’ 2025 TEST SCHEDULE:

TBC: vs Barbarians, TBC, TBC
5 July: vs Italy, Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
12 July: vs Italy, Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Gqeberha
19 July: vs Georgia, Mbombela Stadium, Nelspruit
16 August: vs Australia, Ellis Park, Johannesburg
23 August: vs Australia, DHL Stadium, Cape Town
6 September: vs New Zealand, Auckland
13 September: vs New Zealand, Wellington
27 September: vs Argentina, Kings Park, Durban
4 October: vs Argentina, London
1 November: vs Wales, Cardiff
8 November: vs France, Paris
15 November: vs Italy, Turin
22 November: vs Ireland, Dublin

WHICH FIXTURES ARE YOU MOST LOOKING FORWARD TO?

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