Chante Hohip1 July 2025 | 7:59

‘We are still going to be heavily tested’– Thando Manana on Springboks season

South Africa got their season off to a great start. Robert Marawa interviews Thando Manana, Head of High Performance and Special Projects at the Blue Bulls Company.

‘We are still going to be heavily tested’– Thando Manana on Springboks season

RUGBY | Springboks VS the Barbarians | 28 June 2025 | Image Credit: Ruth Smith

947’s Robert Marwa chats to former Springbok (2000) Thando Manana. He is the Head of High Performance and Special Projects at the Blue Bulls Company.

Listen below:

“The alignment camps and a couple of weeks in Johannesburg… truly proved that they are onto something.”
– Thando Manana
“Rassie Erasmus giving those youngsters time to play against the Barbarians… he does have people like Tshituka, Asenathi, Jean-Luc de Preez… they are on the outskirts looking for the opportunity, but when they get it, they perform.”
– Thando Manana
“…this is a big year for them... they have to win most of their games, if not all, for them not to be in the Group of Death.”
– Thando Manana
“Opportunities and game time at international level, we are still going to be heavily tested… [But] we’ve got good preparation against Italy and Georgia.”
– Thando Manana

The Springboks are back in action this weekend as the Test season kicks off.

South Africa takes on Italy on Saturday, 5 July, at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria.

RELATED: Tickets for Springboks’ July home series to go on sale

Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the discussion.