Erasmus used his Tuesday presser to address two things: why the Boks stayed in Joburg rather than heading to Cape Town early, and where the hooker depth chart actually stands. On the weather question, he was dismissive — a 45% rain forecast doesn't justify disrupting a settled training environment, and altitude work before dropping to sea level is a feature, not a bug. The squad travels Wednesday, returns Sunday, and that's that.
The more substantive thread is the hooker conversation. Deon Fourie's recall replaces Wessels, with Erasmus framing it as a horses-for-courses call for this specific game rather than a long-term shift. He was candid that Jan-Hendrik Wessels is being developed deliberately as a specialist reserve hooker, with André-Hugo Venter also in the frame looking toward 2027. On Mbonambi, Erasmus confirmed he's in contact via WhatsApp but is hazy on whether it's the knee or the lower back keeping Bongi out — and crucially, he won't fast-track him into a Test without Currie Cup game time first. Three weeks ago Erasmus thought Mbonambi was a week away; now he can't give a timeline at all.