Gavin Rich traces the Springbok lock situation from Rassie Erasmus's early-year concern — with Snyman, De Jager, Moerat, Du Toit and Etzebeth all unavailable at various points — to the apparent overcrowding when the extended Barbarians/Zimbabwe squad was named. But fresh injuries to Moerat and the subsequent call-ups of Ruben van Heerden and Adre Smith signal the depth problem hasn't gone away. Rich's point is that this week's fixtures serve a genuine purpose: getting Smith and Van Heerden into the Bok environment now means they're not strangers if the injury toll continues into the England Test series. He also flags the JD Schickerling omission as an ongoing frustration — arguably the Stormers' best lock, long overdue a cap, and currently sidelined at precisely the wrong moment. The piece also revisits Erasmus's interest in expats Jean Kleyn, JJ van der Mescht and David Ribbans as the World Cup planning horizon extends.