South Africa has what can be described as an embarrassment of riches in the front row, with that most rare and valuable of assets, the tighthead prop, being an area which must be the envy of the rest of the world.
It looks unlikely that double World Cup winner Frans Malherbe will resume his playing career after his long injury layoff. Trevor Nyakane is another injury-enforced absentee, and another double World Cup winner Vincent Koch is nearing the end of his career. However, while in many other countries that would sound alarm bells, that’s not the case in this one.
Eyebrows were raised when Erasmus fast-tracked Zachary Porthen, the previous year’s SA under-20 captain, into his squad and team in 2025. But Porthen has vindicated the coach’s faith, both in his primary role as a scrummager and in his ball carrying, an area where there was never any doubt, in the games against England and Scotland.
“He’s a best” is one of the common descriptions of Porthen, who is just 22 years old, which is incredibly young for a tighthead. And no one will quibble with that description of him. Porthen looks likely to make an automatic entry into the Stormers starting team next season for new acquisition Wilco Louw less of a done deal than it might have been thought.
That is not to say though that Louw won’t be valuable, which he is to the Boks. He is one of the most destructive scrummagers on the planet.
And then there’s Thomas du Toit, The now returned Sharks player has only played one half for the Boks so far since the start of the international season and he won’t be involved in the Durban game against Wales, but Erasmus explained that was down to Du Toit having carried a heavy load for Bath during the last European and English season.
In Du Toit’s absence Carlu Sadie will be making his international debut after playing in the non-cap game against the Barbarians at the start of the season.
With competition for the tighthead berth particularly stiff, for the powerfully built Bordeaux-Begles Investec Champions Cup winner, and powerfully built is an understatement when it comes to him, Saturday’s game will be an important one as he returns to his old stomping ground of Hollywoodbets Kings Park.
There had been times when he was playing in South Africa for the likes of the Stormers and the Sharks that there were question marks over Sadie’s conditioning, but Erasmus singled out the hard work he has done on his fitness when he explained the selection to the media at the team hotel in Umhlanga Rocks at the start of the buildup week to the Welsh game.
“When he came into our system, Carlu had won the Champions Cup, and you don’t win it if you can’t scrum, and he has always started for his team,” said Erasmus.
“We really think he deserves his opportunity because he has been hanging in there for six weeks and his conditioning is just getting better and better. It will help Carlu to have (experienced hooker) Malcolm Marx alongside him as he starts his test career.”
With Erasmus clearly backing Porthen, Saturday’s game could be make or break though for Sadie - not because he lacks ability, rather because he has such stiff competition for the No 3 jersey and a place in the squad.
“We’ve given Zach opportunities and we really think he is one for the future. We know what Wilco can do. He has done a lot of good stuff for us off the bench. We will just keep working on his conditioning as he certainly knows how to scrum.”
Erasmus described Du Toit as “a naturally fit guy” and it will be anticipated he returns to the front row when the Boks go to Argentina to face the Pumas in their final warmup game for the Greatest Rivalry Series two weeks after the Welsh game.
He will also be the likely starter in the first test against the All Blacks at Ellis Park on 22 August and Louw or Porthen playing off the bench.
So Sadie has some lifting to do this week, which might be very bad news for the Welsh player he packs down against in four days' time.