If Jacques Nienaber stays loyal to his 2019 Rugby World Cup winners for the 2023 edition, the Springboks will have the most ever players who would turn 32 or older during next year in the squad for France.
In 1995 in South Africa, there were no players who turned 32 or older in the Bok World Cup-winning group. Nick Mallett’s 1999 third-place finishers had one, Henry Honiball, while Rudolf Straeuli’s 2003 squad had three, and Jake White’s triumphant 2007 Boks in France also had three.
Of course, as the conditioning improved over the years, players could withstand the rigours of Test rugby for longer, and in 2011 under Peter de Villiers, four players were in that age category – Victor Matfield, John Smit, Danie Rossouw and Butch James.
That swelled…