South African props are the best in the world

How was a South African tighthead prop not chosen as the No 3 in the United Rugby Championship 2025/26 season Elite XV? When you think of South African rugby’s biggest strength, it is with those wearing Nos 1 and Nos 3.

An Irishman, in Leinster’s Thomas Clarkson got the nod at No 3.

Madness.

Clarkson started eight of 11 matches in the URC and averaged 49 minutes a match. Leinster lost four of those 11 matches.

South African props

The quality of No 3s in South Africa is unmatched in the URC, when you assess the merits of the tightheads of the Bulls, Lions, Sharks and Stormers.

Wilco Louw is the obvious standout for the Bulls.

Louw started 10 of 11 URC matches this season.

Then there is Neethling Fouche for the Stormers and Vincent Koch (12 matches) of the Sharks.

Fouche started 12 of 14 matches in the URC this season.

The Lions’ Asenathi Ntlabakanye was superb this season, but missed the last few matches after being suspended for taking weight loss medication approved by a doctor, but on the prohibited list for rugby players.

Ntlabakanye started 13 of 14 URC matches.

The Bulls, Stormers and Sharks scrum were comfortably the best three scrums in the competition this season.

Bulls

• Wilco Louw
• Francois Klopper
• Mornay Smith

Lions

• Asenathi Ntlabakanye

Sharks

• Vincent Koch

Stormers

• Neethling Fouché
• Zachary Porthen
• Sazi Sandi

*Frans Malherbe (Stormers) and Trevor Nyakane (Sharks) missed the URC with injury. Both are Springboks World Cup winners.

URC ELITE XV – 15 Quan Horn (Lions), 14 Werner Kok (Ulster), 13 Stafford McDowall (Glasgow Warriors), 12 Stuart McCloskey (Ulster), 11 Kyle Rowe (Glasgow Warriors), 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (Stormers), 9 Embrose Papier (Bulls), 8 Evan Roos (Stormers), 7 Ruan Venter (Lions), 6 Cian Prendergast (Connacht), 5 Cobus Wiese (Bulls), 4 Darragh Murray (Connacht), 3 Thomas Clarkson (Leinster), 2 Johan Grobbelaar (Bulls), 1 Ntuthuko Mchunu (Stormers).

Of the South African tightheads playing for overseas clubs, Thomas du Toit (Bath) and Carlü Sadie (Bordeaux) have been immense.

Sadie started in all eight of Bordeaux’s Investec Champions Cup matches. He is part of Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus’s national alignment camp.

Du Toit, who leaves Bath for South Africa’s Sharks, took three category wins at the club’s end of season awards.

Du Toit’s value to Bath and the Boks is his quality as a tighthead prop and loosehead prop.

South Africa’s loosehead prop stocks are as impressive with Sharks’ Ox Nche, Bulls’ Gerhardt Steenekamp and Stormers Ntuthuko Mchunu the leading trio in the country.