Springbok Watch: Players in the Spotlight v Wales

Franco Mostert

Mostert is one of the senior Boks who seem to have slipped down the pecking order this season. The hard-grafting utility forward also lost his mother in what’s been a testing year for him.

The 35-year-old has only played in five Tests in 2025, twice against Italy, twice against Australia, and against Japan. He was used off the bench in his first two appearances, then started at flank for the next two and ran out in his preferred position of lock last time out in the 32-14 win over the Azzurri earlier this month.

Set to don the No. 7 Green and Gold jersey again on Saturday, this – his 84th Test – is a big one for “Sous” to show that he hasn’t lost a step, especially given the emergence of 27-year-old Ruan Nortje, who’ll start at lock and is in the same high-output, utility mould as Mostert.

Morne van den Berg

The exciting “Krappie” has made a telling impact in each of his three Test appearances this season and will look to keep that streak going at the Principality Stadium.

The livewire scrumhalf scored a brace and was named Man of the Match in the 42-24 win over Italy in Pretoria, and also dotted down against the Irish in Dublin and in the third meeting against the Azzurri in Turin.

He said in the week that the end-of-year tour has been a “huge learning curve” and stressed the Boks won’t underestimate the Welsh. “They chase lost causes, so the experience we’ve gained from the United Rugby Championship is that they are guys who are willing to fight for each other, and they’ll certainly get together and want to put up a massive fight this weekend,” he said.

“They have a lot of quality players, and I’ve played against some of them in the URC, and they are very talented, so we know what to expect from some of their individuals. We will certainly not take this match lightly,” he added.

Andre Esterhuizen

Esterhuizen has been one of the Boks’ most valuable players this season, with the mad scientist that is Rassie Erasmus transforming the midfield monster into the game’s first hybrid.

The 28-year-old deserves all the credit in the world for the way he’s embraced and pulled off his new side gig at flank, but on Saturday, he’ll go back to what he does best at No. 12.

Not having to scrum down or being bogged down by all the lineout calls, Esterhuizen can instead revert to building a head of steam and smashing over the gain line. That, as well as displaying his underrated distribution skills.

Ethan Hooker

Can you call Hooker the revelation of the season for the Boks when his prodigious talent all but guaranteed that he’d take the Test arena by storm?

The 22-year-old hit the ground running in his Bok debut when the back-to-back world champions whitewashed Italy 45-0 in Gqeberha, shone in his first starting appearance in the record 43-10 beatdown of the All Blacks in Wellington and scored his first Test try against the Azzurri in Turin in his last outing.

He was so impressive in his seven showings this season that he was nominated for the Breakthrough Player of the Year award, and he’s keen to cap off his maiden campaign with the Boks with a cracker in the Welsh capital. 

Cobus Reinach

Eleven years after making his Test debut as a replacement in the 28-10 win over the Wallabies at Newlands, Reinach will make his 50th appearance for the Boks when he comes on as the only specialist backline player on the 7-1 split bench.

Reinach, who famously scored the fastest hat-trick in World Cup history when he stormed to his try treble in just 11 minutes against Canada in the 2019 global showpiece, has scored 19 Test tries in all, and will bring up 100 points in the Green and Gold if he scores for the third time in as many matches on Saturday.

While he’s on bench duty this weekend, the veteran has established himself as the Boks’ first-choice scrumhalf this season, proving that he’s aging like fine wine.

Erasmus was delighted that Reinach would reach the significant milestone when he announced the team on Thursday, saying, “Cobus is a true team man and he’s been a standout player for us this season and over the years, so we are delighted to see him earn this achievement.”

The Bok coach added, “He’s patiently waited for his chances and grabbed every opportunity with both hands, so to see him achieve this at 35 years old makes it an even more remarkable feat.”