Planet Rugby breaks down the 46-man Nations Championship squad across five themes. The headline finding is that Erasmus is leaning heavily on SA Rugby's youth pipeline — pulling Norton, Moyo and Williams from the Junior Bok environment rather than sending them to Georgia, a sign the coaching staff believe those structures are producing Test-ready players sooner than expected. The lock crisis created by injuries to Snyman, Kleyn, Moerat and a doubtful Mostert is being managed through versatility rather than like-for-like cover, with utility forwards and Venter's positional flexibility expanding the effective lock pool to potentially ten players. The Papier recall after nine years is framed as earned reward for a standout Bulls season, while Jantjies' return from French exile is the genuine surprise — his place in the nine pecking order, behind a returning Grant Williams, is one of the squad's live debates. The ten jersey is another open question with Feinberg-Mngomezulu out: Erasmus publicly backed Pollard despite his URC final wobble, with Libbok and Willemse offering further options. The 12 Bulls inclusions are the expected post-final injection, with Hanekom's return from injury flagged as particularly significant and Elrigh Louw's continued omission as the notable snub.