LONG READ Why Jasper Wiese is the blunt object keeping the Bok machine purring

The number on a player’s back becomes less important with each passing season. Just this year we’ve seen centres pack down in the scrum, loose forwards fly into tackles from midfield and wingers throw the ball in at the line-out.

It is reassuring then to see one player at the elite level who embodies the traditional virtues of his position. Step forward the human battering ram, Jasper Wiese.

Watching the Springbok No. 8 charge into contact like an ill-tempered Cape buffalo feels like a throwback in both style and substance. This is rugby in its simplest form. A sport reduced to its purest essence. A big man running hard and straight with no other thought that the space beyond the gainline.

Wiese doesn’t so much as carry the ball, he hauls it, dragging defenders and momentum in his wake. Every surge forward is a small victory for the Springboks attack. Add them all together and it becomes apparent that this seemingly blunt instrument dictates the rhythm of the game. When Wiese plays well, so does the rest of the team.

The Springboks have lost two games this season – their shock 38-22 reverse to Australia in Johannesburg, and the 24-17 defeat to New Zealand in Auckland. Wiese was missing from both, serving a four-match ban for the red card he was shown against Italy in July. He was also missing from the victories against Australia and Georgia where the world champions struggled for fluency.

But in the team’s most impressive victories – against New Zealand in Wellington, against Argentina in Durban, and against France in Paris – Wiese was a conspicuous presence.

It might seem crude to pin the Boks’ cohesion on the performance of one player, but view South Africa as a machine of interlocking cogs and a clear picture emerges. Remove the driving gear and everything else stutters.

Under new attack coach Tony Brown, the Springboks have looked to move the ball at pace while committing less men to the breakdown in order to have them available in the line. In the games where they’ve failed to dominate the point of contact their lone runners have been picked off by opposition jackals. Australia were most effective at this, but the All Blacks, Italy and others have also targeted this area of the pitch.

Siya Kolisi and Kwagga Smith deputised at No 8. And though they might be more all-round players, they lacked the requisite grunt to provide enough go-forward ball. Between them they averaged 23.3 metres with ball in hand. Since the end of the 2023 World Cup, Wiese has gained an average of 52.6 metres.

When Wiese was missing, Siya Kolisi and Kwagga Smith deputised at No 8. And though they might be more all-round players, they lacked the requisite grunt to provide enough go-forward ball. Between them they averaged 23.3 metres with ball in hand. Since the end of the 2023 World Cup, Wiese has gained an average of 52.6 metres.

That is better than any other No 8 in any Tier 1 team. That’s not the only metric where Wiese’s name sits pretty at the top. In this time he has led the world in carries per game (16.2), percent of carries that attract two or more tacklers (73.6%), and defenders beaten per game (3.6). He is also third when it comes to metres made in contact, behind only Scotland’s Jack Dempsey and Wales’ powerpacked eighthman Aaron Wainwright.

Rassie Erasmus and his coaches have recognised that they need a square peg for a square hole, and they have been unapologetic about picking a specialist rather than a generalist. In an age where versatility is currency, Wiese has doubled down on a single trait and made himself invaluable. As Jacques Nienaber put it during Wiese’s ascent, “the reason why we started looking at Jasper was that he was dominating in the Premiership… he broke the selection door down.” South Africa didn’t stumble onto him; they built their system with a Wiese-shaped cavity at its heart.

You only need to listen to those who play with him to understand the magnitude of his impact. Harry Wells, the England lock and a former teammate of Wiese’s at Leicester, makes no hesitation in picking the Springbok wrecking ball in his all-time Tigers team.

“He’s in my team because of his ball carrying ability and his tackling. He’s immensely destructive and effective,” Wells says. “The first time I met him was in the changing room before a game against Gloucester during that Covid period. He was starting at 8 for us. He just looked the part.

People are talking a lot about him in their prep, in their defence plan. So that creates space for other people. But his ability defensively is hugely dominant. He doesn’t take a backward step. Everything he does gets momentum or takes momentum away from the opposition.

Harry Wells, Leicester Tigers

“The first time he carried the ball, it was straight from kick-off, he ran 30 metres right through the Gloucester defence. We were all just like, ‘Oh my God!’ We’d never seen this guy before. We’d never seen him play before. But we immediately knew that he was just special.”

But is he one-dimensional? Can a loose back-rower thrive in the modern game with only one major strength. Since the World Cup there have been 15 players who have played at least 400 minutes at No 8. Wiese is ranked 12th in tries scored, 13th in passes and offloads, and 14th in line-breaks, tackle success, ruck arrivals on attack and line-out takes. When it comes to tackles completed he is dead last. Wells isn’t having it.

“When someone has a super strength like that, that draws attention to him,” Wells continues. “So people are talking a lot about him in their prep, in their defence plan. So that creates space for other people. But his ability defensively is hugely dominant. He doesn’t take a backward step. Everything he does gets momentum or takes momentum away from the opposition.”

This is evident when you watch Wiese in full flow. There is no hesitation, no feint, no ornamentation. Just intent. The sort of intent that bends defenders, that straightens attacks, that gives structure to a team trying to play with more ambition and width. Others might offer a broader repertoire, but few can deliver such clarity. Few can make a game so chaotic feel so simple. He is not asked to be everything; he is asked to be himself. For South Africa, that is more than enough.

Because as long as he keeps thundering over the gainline while dragging tacklers and momentum with him, the Springboks know they can build the rest. Rugby may continue to blur the edges of its positions, but Wiese remains defiantly, gloriously specific.