No rivalry among Springboks fullbacks, says Aphelele Fassi

There is no competitiveness between him, Willie le Roux, and Damian Willemse for the Springboks’ No 15 jersey, according to Aphelele Fassi.

For them, it’s all about how they can improve the team, and whoever is selected on a specific matchday to wear the fullback jersey, the others will do their best to support him in preparing for what awaits on a certain weekend from the opposition.

With the Springboks set to play 14 matches this season, Fassi will likely feature in some as the starting fullback as head coach Rassie Erasmus looks to expand his squad ahead of the 2027 Rugby World Cup. The Bok season starts this Saturday against the Barbarians in Cape Town.

“I don’t think it is a rivalry,” Fassi said about the fullback jersey of the Boks and who gets to wear it on a specific match day.

“What the coaches have been telling us; it’s about building the squad in the right direction and being able to help each other week in and week out.

"Over the past couple of weeks, Damian and I have been helping each other out in certain areas of our game and discussing how to improve. With the experience Willie brings, it’s vital for us.

“The aim is not to bash each other up but to compete and help each other going forward. Everyone has a different way of playing and we all have that X-factor that we want to bring into the game.

"All we are doing is to help each other to understand the gameplan and how your X-factor can filter into the team.”

According to Fassi, it wasn’t too difficult to adjust from the United Rugby Championship to what is demanded at the Springbok level.

However, he has been working on his strengths with the aid of Le Roux and Willemse. For him, it’s important to be able to learn and feed off Le Roux who’s been capped 97 times by the Springboks.

“In situations where I don’t know what to do, I kind of feed off him. He has had a massive impact. This past week, I sat and asked him a few questions. Those answers were what I needed, and they will help me going into the season.

“The freedom we get is proper. Tony (Brown, assistant coach) and the coaches want us to express ourselves and play with freedom. But following the game plan as a team. You are not boxed in, and that's what we like. We have X-factor players.

“We are just happy that we can play the rugby we can within our structures.

“Every year that you play, you have a target on your back, but that is why we are sportsmen. That's why we want to develop our game to be unpredictable. It's up to me to tick those boxes and play a different style and come into each game with a different approach to how I play.”