Wiese could set himself apart

The Springboks’ end of year tour will present Jasper Wiese another opportunity to take a firm grip of the jersey vacated by Duane Vermeulen in 2023.

This might have happened sooner had the start of No 8 Wiese’s international season not been stalled by a six-match ban for a reckless tackle while he was playing in his last match for Leicester.

When he made his way back into the team he delivered mostly convincing performances against New Zealand in Johannesburg and Cape Town, as well as Argentina in Santiago and Mbombela.

A barnstorming tour of the UK will, however, go a long way to cementing his place in the Bok starting team.

Wiese, of course, has been in this position before. Scotland were the opposition when he was selected ahead of Vermeulen for the Springboks' Rugby World Cup opener in Marseille in 2023. The significance of the match had been hyped in the months leading up to the RWC, so naturally a high premium was placed on a starting jersey.

Though the Boks kept Scotland at arm’s length in a tight and tense Test, Wiese did not exactly seize the moment and that criticism resurfaced perhaps more tellingly in the defeat to Ireland in the Pool B clash in Paris two weeks later. By the time the Boks met France in their crunch quarterfinal Vermeulen was back in the starting team and held on to the jersey through to the final.

With Vermeulen having since moved into the coaching corps, Wiese was expected to step forward and reclaim the jersey that had slipped from his grasp. That was until he copped that untimely ban on the cusp of the international season.

He has, however, gradually lengthened his stride in the Bok jersey since his return. By the time the Boks surged to the Rugby Championship crown with a commanding performance over Argentina in Mbombela, Wiese was in the vanguard.

They will again look to him to bring the same gainline dominance to the UK’s softer surfaces.

Wiese though may need to find another gear to stay ahead of the pack. In his absence earlier this year Evan Roos, Kwagga Smith and Elrigh Louw filled the No 8 jersey before Wiese made his return against the All Blacks. Roos did not exactly advance his cause before getting injured, while Smith was at times suffocated in the tight series against Ireland. In often trying conditions, Louw emerged from his two Tests against Australia with enhanced credentials.

Wiese is ahead of them in the queue but the belated call up of Cameron Hanekom to the Bok touring is likely to re-energise the chat about the No 8 jersey. Hanekom has been a star performer for the Bulls in the United Rugby Championship. With or without the ball he has been a player of impact and industry.

Though he did not make the grade in the initial squad selection for the end of year tour, he could shake things up if given an opportunity.

Wiese is the man in possession, however. Though not setting the world alight in France in 2023 he has been involved in some of the Boks’ biggest successes over the past three years. His collaborations in the starting team with Siya Kolisi and Pieter-Steph du Toit have brought a hard edge to the back row which has seen the team win eight of the 10 Tests they've started as a trio.

The Boks will need Wiese to hit his stride if they are going to end the year with 10 wins from 13 Tests. If he doesn’t they have the reassuring presence of younger pretenders who are queuing up for another crack in the starting team. Crucially though, he has the inside lane and given the Boks’ long-term planning, will have well more than 50 caps by the time the Boks arrive in Australia for the next RWC in 2027.