MONDAY RUGBY WRAP: Expression by youth a gift for Rassie as tour starts

The Springboks start their away leg of the Nations Championship when they face Italy on Saturday and Rassie Erasmus will name his team for the game later on Monday.

Whether or not Erasmus will give playing opportunities to all or some of the young players called up to his 37-man squad that has become such a talking point no-one knows for sure.

Certainly it would appear unlikely given that most of them have had limited exposure to Bok training camps and the team will only effectively have four days together, after travel, before the game.

But then if you aren’t going to play them against Italy, when are those players going to play?

Erasmus tends to make a point of using players in his squads at least once as he returns to his aggressive quest to create more depth now that the emotionally fraught Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series, the Boks’ really big business of the year, has been played and won.

What Erasmus should feel more confident about as he goes into the tour this week is that after the latest round of Vodacom URC fixtures the overall performance of those young players he selected has helped erase any debate over those selections.

There were also some performances by young players who would be close to being Boks, such as the Hollywoodbets Sharks’ 19-year-old Zekhethelo Siyaya, who joined in advertising the rich vein of youthful talent coming through in South Africa.

MULLER ANSWERED THE CALL

Markus Muller, just a year out of school but one of the new Boks, wasn’t going to be playing for the DHL Stormers against Ulster. But Jonathan Roche was injured on the eve of the game, and Muller came to replace him.

He didn’t just replace Roche, the 19-year-old shone in what was an error-ridden but ultimately comprehensive win over an Ulster team that may be second last on the log but in the past has given the Stormers a lot of trouble.

Stormers director of rugby John Dobson said afterwards “I thought Markus was absolutely outstanding”, and he was right. The presence and composure of the Junior Bok Junior World Championship winner was astounding considering how young he is in years, with inside centre being an important position in every team.

As if not more important is the other position in the chief backline decision making axis, flyhalf, and here a fellow Junior Bok and a player just one year older than him in terms of years but not development, Yaqeen Ahmed, took his turn to excel.

In the Stormers’ good moments they gave their fans a thrilling glimpse into the club’s future, with Riley Norton, another young player destined to be a Bok if he gets onto the field overseas, also coming on to strut his stuff in a dominant forward pack towards the end.

TSHITUKA IS EVER CONSISTENT

Emmanuel Tshituka was another new younger Bok to shine, with the flankers’ consistency in performance one of the reasons that the Sharks are now on a three-match winning run. They missed Matt Ramao, a constant presence alongside Tshituka in previous games, who had to withdraw shortly before the game.

But with skipper Nick Hatton becoming more prominent with every game, the Sharks were not short of loose-forward quality as Tshituka again stamped his presence in what was a huge win for the Durbanites.

Sebastian de Klerk got some late game time for the Vodacom Bulls in their romp over the Scarlets at Loftus, with the usual headline grabber Luan Giliomee, another new Bok along with De Klerk, the only one of the six newcomers to be given a complete rest in the last round of the first block of this year’s URC.

But in Giliomee’s absence young Siyaya, who has taken Giliomee’s place in the last line of defence at the Durban club subsequent to Giliomee’s move to the Bulls, demonstrated in Limerick that he could just as easily slot into the Junior Bok’s place in the Bok touring squad too.

He is that good, delivering a telling X-factor performance that was ultimately the difference between victory and defeat for the Sharks.

That and a tigerish, committed first-half defensive effort when the hosts enjoyed a big advantage in the territory battle and also the battle for possession, with the latter being overturned in the second half as the Sharks, as the Stormers did against the same opponents at that venue 11 months ago, systematically became more dominant at forward.

The Sharks’ win was without a bonus point, and that was never on on a fairly inclement looking Irish night, but the four points was enough to propel the Sharks ahead of Edinburgh on points difference and into the top four of the log.

So with the Bulls second and Stormers third, and they are also only separated by points difference, that means there are three SA teams in the top four as the Boks start their November business.

That’s a good illustration of where South African rugby stands ahead of this final furlong of the international year, with the 10Bet Lions the only team lagging in 13th but showing signs against Glasgow of being able to put their travelling travails behind them. They are unbeaten at home and that is where it counts for them.

WEEKEND VODACOM URC RESULTS

Connacht 5 Leinster 50

Glasgow Warriors 29 10Bet Lions 20

DHL Stormers 33 Ulster 7

Vodacom Bulls 54 Scarlets 26

Benetton 31 Edinburgh 12

Munster 3 Hollywoodbets Sharks 15

Dragons 35 Zebre 14

Ospreys 0 Cardiff 26

Vodacom URC log after 5 rounds: 1. Glasgow Warriors 23 pts, 2. Vodacom Bulls 21, 3. DHL Stormers 21, 4. Hollywoodbets Sharks 19, 5. Edinburgh 19, 6. Leinster 18, 7. Cardiff 14, 8. Dragons 14, 9. Ospreys 11, 10. Benetton 11, 11. Connacht 10, 12. Munster 10, 13. 10Bet Lions 9, 14. Scarlets 9, 15. Ulster 9, 16. Zebre 2.

SPRINGBOK NOVEMBER TOUR (European leg Nations Championship)

November 7, 2026: Italy v Springboks – Allianz Stadium, Turin

November 13, 2026: France v Springboks – Stade de France, Saint-Denis (Paris)

November 21, 2026: Ireland v Springboks – Aviva Stadium, Dublin