'You do realise you can only pick 23': Ex-All Black questions importance of Springboks' depth

Former All Blacks winger Jeff Wilson believes that the Springboks have almost hit their ceiling under Rassie Erasmus, after convincingly beating Dave Rennie’s side 3-1 in the recent Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series.

Erasmus has rotated heavily during the recent Rugby World Cup cycle to build a mountain of depth ahead of the 2027 tournament in Australia, but Wilson believes it won’t matter, as the Springboks can only have 23 players on the field.

“The depth that they have created is amazing, but you do realise you can only pick 23 players. They’ve got some insurance, but they can only pick 23, and I don’t think there are many players that can come into that group who played outside those last three Test matches and make a significant difference,” Wilson said on Sky Sport.

“I really don’t think there’s anyone out there.”

The 60-Test former All Black explained that when you look at the recent four-Test series against the All Blacks, Erasmus opted not to use the impressive depth he has in his squad, sticking with the tried and true.

“He played his strongest side because he felt like every single one was a knockout game. I think they are the best team in the world. Credit where credit is due. I don’t think they are far off their ceiling if they’ve already met it.

“What they are to me, though, is that they’re very much like where we were in 2014 going into 2015. World Cup champions, in a great cycle, in a great place, and they are the team to beat, like we were going into 2015. But they’re not unbeatable.

“We’ve shown that they can concede points and tries. It took a semi-final in 2015 for us to get over the top of the Springboks; it went down to the wire. We are the one side alongside France that could knock them out of the Rugby World Cup.

“So for me, I look at it and go, I think they’re close to their ceiling. Their ceiling is really good. They are an outstanding team. I don’t know how much better they can get.

“They’ve got talent, and they’ve got plenty of it,” Wilson said on The Breakdown.

Experienced first-five Handre Pollard was one Springbok who didn’t feature in Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry, with both Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Manie Libbok supposedly overtaking Pollard in the No.10 pecking order.

“I just look at that and go, you can’t get yourself in a situation where you don’t know who your top team is. He knows who his top team is. I’d be very surprised if we see Handre Pollard play in a big Test match again for the Springboks. He might play other Test matches, but there are other players now who have taken over.

“He’s no doubt found some new talent, but I don’t think it’s significantly better than what’s out there.

“Can you tell me that Cheslin Kolbe could have played better than Kurt-Lee Arendse did in that Test match? I find that hard to believe. You can only have 15 on the paddock. What they do have is insurance like no other team right now.”

Former Springboks halfback and rugby analyst Kevin Putt disagreed with Wilson, saying that the Springboks are far from at their ceiling.

“I don’t see that as a ceiling,” Putt replied.

“You’re talking about the current team. There are some of these guys coming through who still have such youth, and by winning 3-1, Rassie’s autonomy has increased even more. You’ve spoken about the team now, the All Blacks playing with a bit of width on it, so yes, we have some potential growth that we can see, but they can do exactly the same.”