Legendary All Blacks coach says Bok veterans face crucial test ahead of World Cup

The legendary All Blacks coach says that Rassie Erasmus has several generational players who are nearing the end of their international careers and that tough decisions need to be made before Australia 2027.

Hansen speaks from experience, having been involved in four World Cup campaigns with New Zealand, two as an assistant coach to Sir Graham Henry.

He was tasked with leading the All Blacks' title defence in 2015 and 2019 and also needed to freshen up the squad during that time, moving on many of the players who won back-to-back tournaments. He aired his views on the ageing Springbok squad on a Rugby Unity and For the Love of Rugby SA collaboration podcast where he was joined by former prop Steven Kitshoff and ex-Wallabies head coach Ewen McKenzie.

Kitshoff, who won the 2019 and 2023 World Cups, said that getting through the week's training is essential for anyone wanting to chase the three-peat. It's a point that Erasmus and former Bok coach Jacques Nienaber have discussed previously, with the duo learning from the 2011 tournament when several of the more experienced players couldn't do that.

"There is still a full URC season that needs to be played and plenty of club games before they even go to the World Cup. So, it's going to be interesting to see how these guys get through, especially the older guys," Kitshoff said.

"If they get through it, if they get managed well, for me personally you don't want to take a squad to the World Cup that's a bit on the older side and can't get through a Monday-Tuesday training block, so it will be interesting to see how they get managed, how their bodies feel by then, but I can't see much rugby for them after that because they've been in the Springbok squad for over a decade."

Hansen agreed with the former front rower and suggested that Erasmus should have honest and open conversations with some of the older players to gauge their hunger and willingness to put in the hard yards.

"We had a group of players heading into 2015 who were getting on the older side, and we had a discussion one by one with them about what they controlled," Hansen said.

"They were the only person who could tell you if they still had the desire, the genuine desire to do the work from Sunday to Friday – Saturday is always the fun time; that's when everyone can all still be playing if we could do that.

"Obviously, Sunday to Friday is where the hard work gets done. So if your player can have a think about that, then come back and look you in the eye and say, 'I still have the desire, I still want to be here', then your process is all about performance. As the coach, you're guiding him on his performance like you're having honest conversations. Is the performance good enough? Yes, it is. Carry on. If it's not, we'll discuss it, and then we'll have to make decisions if we can't fix it. But first and foremost, they have to have the desire."

The 2015 World Cup-winning coach understands why Erasmus would be reluctant to filter out some of the experienced players like Jesse Kriel, Siya Kolisi, Eben Etzebeth, Damian de Allende, Pieter-Steph du Toit and so on, stating that they are 'generational players'.

However, he added that some might even take the decision out of the head coach's hands by admitting that they don't have enough left in the tank to continue. If they do that, he believes that there is a right way to exit them out of the set-up.

"The guys you're talking about are generational players for South Africa, and they're guys that you don't want to let go because they bring so much with them," he explained.

"However, if he has the conversation, then there might be one or two that say, 'Look, I don't I just can't do it anymore,' and that's fine; they're putting the team first.

"They're brave enough to tell you. So you exit them out of the team in a way that they deserve to be exited out because they're champion players. But if they still have that desire, they'll front up, and they'll play well.

"Then your job is to make sure that they are fresh enough to be able to do that."