THE 15 GREATEST SPRINGBOKS OF ALL TIME

There have been bigger Springboks. There have been more physically imposing Springboks.

I'm not sure there have been many more dangerous ones.

Cheslin Kolbe can change a Test match with one touch of the ball. The acceleration, footwork, balance and ability to beat defenders who seemingly have him covered make him one of the most naturally gifted attacking players South Africa has produced.

But it's never just been the highlight-reel stuff. Kolbe punches enormously above his weight defensively, competes relentlessly and has delivered when the pressure has been at its highest.

His try in the 2019 World Cup final is already part of Springbok folklore.

There were some huge names competing for this final position.

Kolbe gets my call.

Separating Siya Kolisi the player from Siya Kolisi the Springbok captain is almost impossible.

His place in South African rugby history is unquestionable. Captain of the Springboks when they won the World Cup in 2019. Captain again when they defended it in 2023.

But this list isn't purely about trophies or leadership.

Kolisi makes my 15 because underneath everything he represents is an outstanding Test flanker: explosive, physical, quick over the ground, excellent at the breakdown and capable of producing enormous performances when South Africa needs them.

His influence on the Springbok era in which he has played extends far beyond his individual contribution.

There may have been more naturally gifted Springboks.

Few have meant more.

If you were building the perfect Test scrum-half in a laboratory, you'd probably end up somewhere close to Fourie du Preez.

His rugby intelligence was extraordinary.

Du Preez could control a match without looking like he was controlling it. His kicking game, passing, decision-making and ability to identify space before everyone else made him the tactical heartbeat of one of South Africa's greatest teams.

And then there were the moments of individual brilliance.

That 2007 World Cup quarter-final against Fiji remains one of the great scrum-half performances.

Fourie didn't need chaos to influence games.

He controlled the chaos.

One of the smartest Springboks I've ever watched.

Naas Botha would have driven modern rugby supporters absolutely insane.

And I mean that as a compliment.

He understood his job.

Control territory. Control the scoreboard. Punish mistakes. Win rugby matches.

Botha's kicking ability was exceptional, but reducing him to somebody who simply kicked goals completely misses what made him special. His tactical understanding and ability to dictate matches from fly-half made him the central figure in Springbok rugby during much of his era.

His international career was also heavily affected by South Africa's sporting isolation, which makes comparing his Test numbers with players from other generations misleading.

Put Naas into the modern professional game with today's preparation and structures?

I'd love to see it.

Absolute chaos in a Springbok jersey.

And I loved it.

Schalk Burger played rugby with an intensity that bordered on ridiculous.

He was fast, brutally physical, incredibly athletic and seemingly incapable of participating in a Test match at anything below maximum effort.

At his peak, Burger could influence almost every part of a game. Carrying. Tackling. Breakdown. Support play. Offloading. Work rate.

He was named World Rugby Player of the Year in 2004 and became one of the defining Springboks of his generation.

His career also had remarkable longevity despite the punishment his style of rugby inflicted on his body.

There have been more controlled Springbok flankers.

I'm not sure there have been many more ferocious ones.

If the opposition had a lineout they absolutely had to win, Victor Matfield was probably the last man they wanted standing opposite them.

He turned lineout play into an art form.

Preparation, intelligence, timing and athleticism made Matfield arguably the defining lineout forward of his generation.

But again, calling him merely a lineout specialist undersells him.

Matfield had outstanding handling skills for a lock, understood space exceptionally well and formed one of rugby's great second-row partnerships with Bakkies Botha.

And when South Africa won the 2007 World Cup final, Matfield was named Man of the Match.

That's quite a way to demonstrate your value on the biggest stage.

This might be where some people start shouting at me.

Good.

Because I have Malcolm Marx this high deliberately.

At his best, Marx is an absolute weapon.

His combination of size, power, breakdown ability, carrying and defensive impact has redefined what South Africa can get from a hooker.

When Marx gets over the ball, the opposition knows exactly what's coming and still struggles to stop him.

He's capable of changing momentum from the bench or dominating from the start, which has made him extraordinarily valuable within the modern Springbok system.

And yes, putting him above Matfield, Burger, Botha and Fourie du Preez is a massive call.

I'm making it anyway.

A Springbok enforcer who also happens to be an extraordinary rugby player.

That's an important distinction.

It's easy to focus on Eben Etzebeth's size, aggression and confrontational edge because they're impossible to miss.

But underneath that is a genuinely elite Test lock.

His athleticism for such a massive man is exceptional. He's powerful in contact, outstanding at lineout time, relentless defensively and has developed into one of South Africa's most important leaders.

And he's done it over an extraordinary period at international level.

Every great Springbok era has players who seem to embody what the team represents.

Etzebeth is one of those players.

The Rolls-Royce.

One of my favourite Springboks ever.

André Joubert made rugby look ridiculously easy.

He had pace, balance, vision, beautiful hands and that wonderful ability great fullbacks have of appearing to possess more time than everybody around them.

There was an elegance to Joubert's rugby that separated him from almost everyone else.

He could counterattack. Create. Finish. Link with his backs. Kick intelligently. And he could seemingly glide through defensive lines without ever looking rushed.

Younger rugby fans might look at some of the names below him and question this ranking.

Those who watched Joubert at his best will understand exactly why he's here.

Pure class.

Now we're reaching across generations.

And we have to.

Any greatest-Springbok list that only remembers the professional era isn't really a greatest-Springbok list.

Frik du Preez was an extraordinary rugby player.

A forward with athleticism, skill and versatility that stood out dramatically in his era, he could influence matches in ways that were unusual for a man playing in the pack.

He could run. Handle. Kick. Win lineout ball. Score.

And he possessed the physicality expected of a Springbok forward to go with it.

Comparing players separated by half a century is impossible.

But greatness isn't supposed to disappear simply because fewer people alive today saw it happen.

Frik belongs here.

Two World Cups.

Twelve years apart.

That alone tells you something extraordinary about Os du Randt.

He was part of the Springbok side that won South Africa's first World Cup in 1995 and then, remarkably, was still there when they won it again in 2007.

But longevity alone doesn't get you into my top five.

Os was an outstanding loosehead prop.

Powerful at scrum time, mobile around the field and technically superb, he combined the traditional requirements of a Springbok front-rower with an athleticism that allowed him to contribute well beyond the scrum.

Prop isn't a glamorous position.

Os didn't need it to be.

He was simply world class for an absurdly long time.

Everyone knew what Bryan Habana was going to do.

Stopping him was the problem.

At his peak, Habana's acceleration was terrifying.

Give him half a gap and the contest could be over before the defence had time to adjust.

But Habana became much more than simply a ridiculously fast winger. His anticipation was exceptional, his defensive reads created tries from nowhere, and he developed into a genuinely complete international player.

Then came 2007.

Eight tries at the World Cup, equalling the tournament record, a World Cup winner's medal and World Rugby Player of the Year.

He ultimately finished with 67 Test tries for South Africa.

That's not just pace.

That's greatness.

Joost changed what I thought a scrum-half could be.

He was huge for the position, explosively quick, incredibly competitive and dangerous anywhere near the try line.

Defences couldn't treat him simply as the player delivering the ball to somebody else.

Joost himself was the threat.

His famous tackle on Jonah Lomu in the 1995 World Cup final has become part of Springbok history, but his career was so much bigger than one moment.

He could break around the fringes, score tries, defend like a loose forward and inject tempo into a match instantly.

Modern scrum-halves have taken the position in all sorts of directions.

Joost was doing things decades ago that still look modern today.

An absolute phenomenon.

Yes.

Number two.

And I'm completely comfortable putting Pieter-Steph du Toit this high.

If you want to understand why, watch him when the stakes are at their highest.

PSDT possesses an almost absurd work rate. He tackles relentlessly, carries, competes, chases and puts pressure on opponents for 80 minutes.

But describing him as merely a workhorse does him a disservice.

He's an exceptional athlete and an extraordinarily intelligent defensive player.

His performance in the 2023 World Cup final was immense — 28 tackles in a one-point victory over New Zealand — and he was named Player of the Match.

He's also won World Rugby Men's 15s Player of the Year twice.

For me, we're no longer discussing whether PSDT belongs among the great Springboks.

We're discussing how high.

My answer is second.

Which leaves one man.