Three stars who can win fight for Springbok careers

The Springboks have less than two years to go until their highly-anticipated 2027 World Cup title defence, while a jampacked 2026 season will get underway in July.

With focus really shifting towards the global showpiece, some seniors will understandably need to be cut out of the mix, and the likes of Willie le Roux, Makazole Mapimpi and Trevor Nyakane are surely already at peace with the fact they are highly unlikely to make it to Australia in 2027.

Some other players have also begun to be phased out, but here we take a look at three players who face a potentially career-defining season to try to revive their Springbok careers in 2026.

PLAYERS WHO CAN FIGHT FOR A SPRINGBOK ‘COMEBACK’

Lukhanyo Am

The Springbok coaches simply cannot forget about the 32-year-old midfield dynamo. Yes, some injuries with fitness and form have seen him slip down the pecking order, but he still has plenty of rugby left in him.

Am has recently taken up a new challenge with a permanent move to Japan with the Sagamihara DynaBoars, and it does present an opportunity for him to refresh his body and mind.

A fit and firing Am could certainly add some more competition at outside centre, where Jesse Kriel and Canan Moodie have settled, but it’s way too soon to give up on the 2019 World Cup star.

Faf de Klerk

Another player who has battled with injuries, and at 34-years-old, perhaps the national coaches believe the time has come to let the likes of Grant Williams and Morne van den Berg rather benefit from more game-time in the lead up to the World Cup.

Cobus Reinach has also been sensational over the last year, and the 35-year-old continues to defy any preconceptions about losing pace with age.

So it does appear that there is perhaps just no space for De Klerk right now, but if there was an injury or a drop in form from one of the other scrumhalves, there’s no reason to believe he couldn’t come back into the mix and make up for lost time.

Bongi Mbonambi

One of the surprises from last season was seeing Mbonambi begin to rapidly fall out of a regular matchday role, with Malcolm Marx taking hold of the No 2 jersey, while ‘newcomers’ Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Johan Grobelaar and Marnus van der Merwe made their presence felt.

Mbonambi is a warrior and leader, though, and although he has just turned 35, you get the feeling that he is the type of person and player who is more than capable of fighting for a plane ticket to the next World Cup.

All Bok fixtures so far for 2026:

• Saturday 4 July | England | Ellis Park, Johannesburg
• Saturday 11 July | Scotland | Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
• Saturday 18 July | Wales | Kings Park, Durban
• Saturday 22 August | First Test – New Zealand at Ellis Park, Johannesburg 
• Saturday 29 August | Second Test – South Africa v New Zealand at DHL Stadium, Cape Town 
• Saturday 5 September | Third Test – South Africa v New Zealand at FNB Stadium, Johannesburg
• Saturday 12 September | Fourth Test – South Africa v New Zealand | Venue TBC
• Weekend of 6-8 November | Italy | Venue TBC
• Weekend of 13-15 November | France | Venue TBC
• Saturday 21 November | Ireland | Venue TBC