When it comes to my highlights of 2025, South Africa has to be at the top of the international list because the reigning world champions still deserve to be number one.

That was the position they occupied at the end of the World Cup final in Paris in 2023, and having beaten New Zealand, France, and Ireland away in the last six months, they are still there – and you cannot do better than that.
I don’t believe the hype about the strength of South Africa’s squad, giving them two equally strong 23s to contest the 2027 World Cup.
Instead, I believe that they have a very good bench, which is curr...