With Grobbelaar dropped and Fourie injured, Erasmus has effectively forced his hand — and his coaching staff's — by naming Wessels as Marx's deputy for the November Nations Championship. Robbi Kempson thinks that's the right call. The ex-Bok prop argues that Wessels has been spread too thin operating across loosehead and hooker, and that a dedicated run in the No. 2 jersey will accelerate his development at Test level. Kempson points to Wessels' technical accuracy, low penalty count and breakdown intelligence as the foundations of a credible Test hooker — he just needs concentrated reps in the role. The piece also frames this as a deliberate Erasmus selection lever: by excluding Grobbelaar entirely, the coaching staff are giving themselves no easy out and committing to the Wessels experiment properly.
Kempson backs Wessels to grow into Boks hooker role with focused November run
Kempson argues Wessels' November focus on hooker — a position Erasmus has effectively forced by omitting Grobbelaar — will accelerate his development, pointing to his technical discipline and breakdown intelligence as the building blocks of a credible Marx deputy.
- Rassie Erasmus
- Springboks
- Bongi Mbonambi
- Malcolm Marx
So how deep is the Springbok squad?
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Who steps up at hooker if Marx is seriously hurt?
Marx's playoff injury has exposed South Africa's unresolved hooker depth problem. The piece assesses the full candidate pool — Wessels, Grobbelaar, Van Staden, Venter, Dweba and teenage prospect Mnebelele — and what 2026 might look like as the last real development window before the World Cup.
Erasmus: 'We don't see the Nations Championship as a competition'
Erasmus says the Boks won't adjust their approach to chase Nations Championship log points — each Test is treated as a standalone match, with squad rotation across the window as the priority over competition standings.
Graham Henry's praise puts Rassie's depth chart in sharp perspective
Graham Henry's public defence of Rassie's rotation policy gives this depth-chart breakdown an unusual angle — with position-by-position analysis showing just how far Springbok depth now extends beyond the current 46-man squad.
Smith vows England will 'leave it all out there' against Springboks
Marcus Smith says England's 36-man squad, arriving in Johannesburg on Thursday, are targeting a historic win over the Springboks in the Nations Championship opener, having trained in oxygen masks to prepare for the Highveld.