Springbok fans can rejoice; the 2025 season will kick off this Saturday with a ‘warm-up’ clash against the Barbarians before the team then heads into a jampacked set of Test fixtures.
After a brief period where the Springbok players returned home to spend time with their families over the last couple of days, the squad reassembled in Cape Town on Sunday to continue preparing for their encounter against the Barbarians.
Kick off on Saturday is at 17:10.
“We are well on track with our preparations for the Barbarians game,” said coach Rassie Erasmus.
“Some of the players are making a strong return from injury, and we’ve now had time for the players to settle back into our setup from their franchises and clubs.
“Some of the players had fitness tests yesterday (last Tuesday) and have been involved in team meetings and been exposed to the way we want to do things on the field after the two alignment camps earlier in the year, so we are confident we’ll all be back on the same page”
The Springboks are ‘ready’ to kick off their season
The Springboks face the BaaBaas for the Qatar Airways Cup on Saturday (28 June), before lining up against Italy in back-to-back Tests in Pretoria (5 July) and Gqeberha (12 July) before they wrap up the Incoming Series against Georgia in Nelspruit (19 July).
Zoning in on the Incoming Series, the double Rugby World Cup-winning coach said: “Italy will obviously pose a different challenge. They did well in their first two Six Nations matches, but they are a team that we can analyse, although we will certainly not underestimate them.
“I’ve seen them beat us before, so it will be an important two matches against them. Georgia is also a challenging team on a good day, so the key for us will be to drive our own standards.”
Full squad ahead of the 2025 season:
Forwards: Lood de Jager (Wild Knights), Jean-Luc du Preez (Sale Sharks), Thomas du Toit (Bath), Siya Kolisi, Eben Etzebeth, Vincent Koch, Bongi Mbonambi, Ox Nche, Vincent Tshituka (all Sharks), Neethling Fouche, Salmaan Moerat, Evan Roos (all Stormers), Jean Kleyn (Munster), Wilco Louw, Marco van Staden, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Cobus Wiese, Ruan Nortje (all Bulls), Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears), Franco Mostert (Honda Heat), Asenathi Ntlabakanye (Lions), Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs), RG Snyman (Leinster), Marnus van der Merwe (Scarlets), Boan Venter (Edinburgh), Jasper Wiese (Urayasu D-Rocks).
Backs: Damian de Allende (Wild Knights), Faf de Klerk, Jesse Kriel (both Canon Eagles), Andre Esterhuizen, Aphelele Fassi, Makazole Mapimpi, Grant Williams, Ethan Hooker (all Sharks), Manie Libbok, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Damian Willemse (all Stormers), Cheslin Kolbe (Tokyo Sungoliath), Kurt-Lee Arendse, Willie le Roux, Canan Moodie (all Bulls), Handre Pollard (Leicester Tigers), Cobus Reinach (Montpellier), Morne van den Berg, Edwilll van der Merwe (both Lions).
