Why the 2025 Rugby Championship will be the Springboks' Mount Everest

Daily Maverick

2 hours ago

While the Springboks look set for their most challenging Rugby Championship campaign yet, they have reason to believe they can achieve at least two of their biggest tournament goals.
The Rugby Championship is the most demanding international tournament in the game.
Four of the world's leading teams compete at venues across three continents over eight weeks. The draw, and the extraordinary travel demands, have a significant bearing on the final standings.
It's worth noting when and how the Springboks have won their five titles since the tournament's inception in 1996.
While the format has changed several times over the past three decades, all five of South Africa's successful campaigns have had one thing in common: the absence of a double-header in New Zealand.
With that in mind, consider what the Boks are up against in 2025.
Planning to peak in New Zealand
While the campaign will be bookended by series against Australia and then Argentina, a rare Freedom Cup double header in New Zealand will shape the outcome.
It's been 15 years since the Boks played the All Blacks in New Zealand on consecutive weekends, and 88 years since they won back-to-back Tests in that part of the world.
It's a tough ask to win both matches in New Zealand this September, yet opportunity knocks for a group that's already won two World Cups, two Rugby Championship titles as well as a series against the British & Irish Lions.
Rassie Erasmus's charges will have the chance to end South Africa's 88-year drought at Eden Park – and become the first Test side to win at the Auckland fortress in 50 matches.
What's more, they could become the first Bok team to complete a Freedom Cup series sweep in New Zealand, and perhaps most importantly, the first South African side to successfully defend its Rugby Championship title.
Will they tick all of those boxes or will they focus on two of the three objectives?
It's a question that will shape their Rugby Championship campaign.
Bonus points or bust against Wallabies
The first two Rugby Championship matches against the Wallabies will set the tone for the rest of the tournament – in more ways than one.
Last year, Erasmus's charges claimed two bonus-point wins in Australia, and those victories laid the platform for a successful campaign.
The Boks went on to win both Tests against the All Blacks in South Africa, and after falling short in Argentina, thumped the Pumas 48-7 in Mbombela to clinch the Rugby Championship title.
The Boks won't take the Wallabies lightly over the next two weeks, and they won't spurn the opportunity to bank valuable log points.
Having thrashed the Wallabies 43-12 and 35-17 in the past two match-ups staged on the Highveld, the Boks should expect to bank five log points when hosting Joe Schmidt's team at Ellis Park this Saturday.
Erasmus has selected a well-balanced side geared towards a high-tempo approach in Johannesburg, but has also opted to keep a few stars back ahead of the coming matches in Cape Town, Auckland and Wellington.
Double World Cup winners such as Cheslin Kolbe and Damian de Allende are nursing minor injuries and should be ready for the clash next Saturday.
Other notable players – Handré Pollard, Willie le Roux, RG Snyman, Vincent Koch and Sacha-Feinberg Mngomezulu – are likely to feature in the second Test against the Wallabies.
Erasmus used 46 players over the course of the recent matches against the Barbarians, Italy and Georgia, and spoke about sharing the workload in what will be a demanding international season.
The Bok coach will continue to rotate his squad against Australia, and will strive to ensure all of the relevant players are battle-hardened before the group departs for New Zealand.
Two out of three a realistic goal
A lot has been said in recent weeks about the Wallabies' shocking record in South Africa since 1996.
Meanwhile, the Boks have fared little better in Australia over the same period, and have claimed four wins in New Zealand in the pro era.
The latter record certainly puts the upcoming journey to the Land of the Long White Cloud into perspective.
While Erasmus's Boks have beaten the All Blacks in the past four encounters staged at home and on neutral soil, they haven't won in New Zealand since 2019.
Is it fair to expect two wins in New Zealand this September, knowing that the Boks have claimed only four in the preceding three decades – or is one out of two more realistic?
The Boks will be going all out to win at Eden Park. That result would represent a magnificent achievement in isolation and would boost the Boks' chances of defending their Rugby Championship title – providing, of course, that they do the business against the Wallabies beforehand.
Depending on the result in Auckland, the second match in Wellington will represent a chance for the Boks to complete a rare sweep in New Zealand, or an opportunity to level the Freedom Cup series and stay in touch with the All Blacks in the race for the Rugby Championship title.
Erasmus and his coaches will have considered all of the scenarios, and what they might do in terms of selection and approach if things don't go according to plan in the first three matches of the campaign.
Right now, however, they will be operating under the assumption that three wins from three is possible.
One would expect Erasmus to treat the Eden Park game like a World Cup final and select his best available players for the must-win clash.
If the Boks come through that encounter with a victory, a different side might be unleashed in Wellington.
Squad rotation across a marquee series doesn't necessarily signal a lack of ambition.
Last season, Erasmus picked two very different teams for the matches against the All Blacks in Johannesburg and Cape Town, and the Boks managed to win both Tests.
Two wins in New Zealand is possible, yet unlikely – and you'd have to think that if the Boks win at Eden Park and eventually return to South Africa with a total of five points from the two Freedom Cup matches, they will be more than satisfied.
From there, they will be ideally placed to push on in the remaining matches against the Pumas – one of which will be staged at Twickenham rather than in far-flung Argentina – and secure another Rugby Championship title.
Two out of three wouldn't be bad at all. DM