International Rugby

Bok Barometer: Keo picks his Form 23

The Springboks squad is made up of the best South African players across the planet. How different would it look if overseas-based South African players were not eligible for selection?

Published

5 months ago

14th April 2026

Keo

Keo Bok Barometer: Sharks and Bok midfield André Esterhuizen and Ethan Hooker. Photo: Steve Haag/Gallo Images

Keo picks his Form 23 in a Bok Barometer that speaks to only those players based in South Africa.

Rassie Erasmus is spoilt for choice as Springboks coach. It doesn’t matter where a player is based. If he is eligible as a South African, Erasmus can pick him for the Boks.

Bok Barometer Keo: Who are the form South African-based Bok match 23 contenders?

It was something Erasmus insisted on when he returned to South Africa from Munster, Ireland, in 2018 to coach the Springboks, with Jacques Nienaber his deputy. When Erasmus appointed Nienaber as Springboks coach and he oversaw the national set-up as Director of Rugby, the same selection policy applied.

The Boks won the 2019 and 2023 Rugby World Cup titles.

Erasmus’s predecessors could not pick overseas-based South Africans and by 2017 the Boks had slumped to 7th in the world rankings.

England and New Zealand remain the only two countries that still apply a domestic-only player national selection.

Australia has a rule that allows for a handful of overseas-based players eligible for Wallabies selection but with them having plummeted to seventh in the world rankings, don’t be surprised to see new coach Les Kiss given the freedom to pick the best, regardless of where they are based and play their club rugby.

Australia hosts the 2027 World Cup.

Thank goodness there is the policy in place because the Springboks would not have won any World Cup in 2019 and 2023 if they could not have picked those overseas-based players that made up 50 percent of the two World Cup-winning match 23s.

Bok Barometer Keo: How would the Bok match 23 look if Rassie Erasmus could only pick players based in South Africa?

To illustrate how much the situation has evolved and the talent pool in South Africa has improved, a match 23, based exclusively in South Africa, would never be ranked as low as 7th in the world.

Having the additional selection global resources is what separates the Springboks from the rest and reinforces why the Boks currently are the best team in the world.

This is a match 23 I believe would beat England on the 4th July at Ellis Park.

Bok Barometer Keo