Rassie Erasmus isn’t just coaching for next year’s Rugby World Cup. He’s already thinking about 2031, and he found a clever way to tie 18 young prospects to the Springboks without rushing them into a Test debut.
The trick? South Africa A’s match against Zimbabwe.
Under World Rugby regulations, any uncapped player who suits up for a union’s second senior national team against a senior international side gets ‘captured’ to that country. They can’t just switch allegiances later by signing with a club in Scotland or France and waiting out a residency period. The only way out now is through a birthright transfer or the Olympic loophole, and the birthright route requires a three-year stand-down period. That’s a big deterrent.
So when SA Rugby scheduled this fixture against the Zimbabwe Sables, it wasn’t just about giving fringe players a run. It was about locking down talent before other nations could poach them.
The SA ‘A’ lineup is loaded with young names. Luan Giliomee, Jaco Williams and Zekhethelo Siyaya all start in the back three. These are guys who’ve shown flashes for the Sharks in the United Rugby Championship but aren’t close to cracking the Springboks’ absurdly deep backline yet. Markus Muller starts at center, and he’s got a bright future ahead, but he’s stuck behind Damian de Allende, Jesse Kriel, Canan Moodie, Andre Esterhuizen and Ethan Hooker. Not to mention Lukhanyo Am, who’s his midfield partner this weekend and already capped.
Haashim Pead at scrum-half might actually push for a senior call-up soon, but his half-back partner Yaqeen Ahmed probably won’t. That’s fine. The point is to have them in the system now.
The Tshituka Factor
One of the biggest wins here is Emmanuel Tshituka. He’s 26, Congolese-born, and playing for the Sharks. He’s got talent but hasn’t managed to separate himself from South Africa’s ridiculous loose forward depth. That depth might thin out after the 2027 World Cup, and if Tshituka sticks around, he could be in line for a shot. But if he wasn’t captured now, he could’ve moved to Europe and qualified for another nation through residency. Not anymore.
His brother Vincent captains the SA ‘A’ side. Both are locked in. Same goes for lock Ruben van Heerden, who’s headed to Montpellier, and 21-year-old Bathobele Hlekani, who probably won’t play Test rugby until 2028 at the earliest.
Future-Proofing Against Poachers
This isn’t a new idea, by the way. Scotland did it with WP Nel and Pierre Schoeman. Ireland did it with James Lowe and Bundee Aki. But World Rugby changed the residency rule from three years to five, which made it harder to pull off those project player signings. So now the smart play is to capture guys early, before they even think about leaving.
Erasmus signed an extension through 2031, so he’s not in panic mode. He can afford to plan long-term. He said as much last week, calling the fixture valuable on multiple fronts: getting players comfortable with the system, giving injured guys game time, and capturing a bunch of young talent all at once.
Out of the entire matchday 23, only five players have already been capped by the Springboks: Am, Phepsi Buthelezi, Vincent Tshituka, Neethling Fouche and Boan Venter. Everyone else is now officially tied to South Africa for the foreseeable future.
That’s 18 players who won’t be playing for anyone else. Not bad for a single mid-year friendly.
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