Put your 15 players on the pitch, draw your phases of play, export a clean image or an animated GIF and share your team in one tap. National heroes, world legends, your club mates — from prop to fullback.
Pick your formation, place your 15 players on a real pitch (in-goal, 22 m and halfway lines, H posts) and add their photo. Walk away with a clean image ready to share.
The rugby tactics board. Place players and opponents, draw passes, runs, kicks and zones, then animate your phase step by step.
TeamBranch reproduces the official structure of a rugby union XV: 8 forwards (the pack), 7 backs (the line), a captain, a tactical formation. Fifteen positions, fifteen calls, from number 1 to number 15.
Draft from the current Springboks (Siya Kolisi, Eben Etzebeth, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Cheslin Kolbe, Handré Pollard, Kurt-Lee Arendse), the green-and-gold immortals (Os du Randt, Bryan Habana, Joost van der Westhuizen, Francois Pienaar, Victor Matfield, John Smit), the stars of the URC and Currie Cup, or pick from the All Blacks, Wallabies, Pumas, Six Nations. You can also build a side made entirely of your bru and oom for the Saturday club run.
Pick the side that walks out as back-to-back defending champions in Perth on 1 October 2027. Trust Rassie and Tony Brown's blueprint, blood the new caps, or go all-time. Four titles already — 2027 is the hunt for an unprecedented fifth.
Pick the side that wins the Rugby Championship, retains the Mandela Challenge Plate against the Wallabies and stares down the All Blacks at Ellis Park. Four nations, six rounds, one trophy that lives on Loftus shelves.
Mix the Bulls light blue, the Stormers URC class of 2022, the Sharks firepower, the Lions revival. Throw in the Irish provinces, the Welsh regions, the Scottish district sides, the Italian outfits. The best XV of the competition, your call.
Your oom at prop, your bru at hooker, your brother at scrumhalf, your sister on the wing. Upload your own photo cards for the Currie Cup club final, the boerewors-and-biltong tour, the bachelor weekend, or just the after-braai social.
From the first Test against the British Isles at Port Elizabeth on 30 July 1891 to the unforgettable single-point Paris coronation on 28 October 2023, the Boks have built rugby's most decorated jersey: 4 World Cups, 4 Rugby Championships, the only side ever to retain the Webb Ellis with three one-point knockouts. On TeamBranch you can replay every generation — or rewrite the finals that almost slipped away.
The amateur era was forged on the highveld and at Newlands: a side of farmers and miners that toured fearlessly. Then came isolation — 1981 to 1992, a decade in the cold for apartheid. Rugby went quiet. The return was electric: invited back into the world game in 1992, hosting the third Rugby World Cup in 1995.
15-12 over the All Blacks at Ellis Park, Joel Stransky's drop, Mandela in #6 Pienaar's jersey, "Nelson, Nelson, Nelson" rolling around the stadium. Sport, transformed. A nation, briefly, one. Os du Randt, Mark Andrews, Joost van der Westhuizen, Chester Williams on the wing — the immortals.
The post-1995 hangover was real — but the foundations were stone. Jake White took over a fractured group in 2004 and rebuilt them around a brutal pack and a clinical 10. 2007 in Paris: 15-6 over England, John Smit lifting the cup as captain, Os du Randt becoming the only Bok to win two titles 12 years apart.
Bryan Habana equalled Jonah Lomu's record of 8 RWC tries that year. Schalk Burger, Bakkies Botha, Victor Matfield, Percy Montgomery at fullback. The Bok-AB duopoly was at its peak — and the trophy slept on Smit's mantelpiece.
Rassie Erasmus arrived in 2018 with a battered Bok side and a clear plan: brutal physicality, kicking game, ruthless bench. Siya Kolisi became the first black SA captain. 2019 in Yokohama, 32-12 over England, Makazole Mapimpi's try sealed it. The miracle was back.
Then 2023 — the impossible. Four knockout games, three of them won by a single point: France 29-28, England 16-15, New Zealand 12-11 in the final. Pollard kicking from his own half, Etzebeth grinding, the 7-1 bombsquad split that broke world rugby. Tony Brown took over as head coach in 2024 with Rassie as Director of Rugby. Australia 2027: the hunt for star number five.
A rugby XV runs out with 15 starters and 8 reserves: the pack and the line, the forwards and the backs. Each jersey number maps to a specific role. TeamBranch reproduces this grammar for your lineup, one to fifteen — including the Bok-famous 7-1 bombsquad bench split.
The pack (1 to 8) is about set-piece and contact: scrums, lineouts, mauls, rucks. The backs (9 to 15) are about movement: handling, territory, running lines, finishing. All of it under a captain, who can wear any number.
Each generation has its faces, its system, its rivalries. On TeamBranch you can rebuild these XVs exactly, or change one name and see what happens. What if Joost had played in 2003? If du Plessis had stayed fit in 2011? Answer in 60 seconds.
We're more than rugby. We're a country united by green and gold, by hope, by the belief that the impossible is always one tackle away.Siya Kolisi, Springbok captain · two-time Rugby World Cup winner (2019, 2023)
Build the XV that defends the title at the 2027 World Cup in Australia. Mix the leaders (Kolisi, Etzebeth, du Toit, Pollard, Kolbe, de Allende) and the rising caps (Arendse, Libbok, Snyman, Fassi, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu). Your starting XV, your 7-1 bench, your captain.
Os du Randt at loosehead, John Smit at hooker, Bakkies Botha and Victor Matfield at lock, Francois Pienaar at flanker, Joost van der Westhuizen at 9, Naas Botha at 10, Bryan Habana on the wing, Percy Montgomery at 15. The all-time Bok XV, 1891 to 2026.
Mix the light-blue Bulls, the URC-champion Stormers, the black-and-white Sharks, the red Lions — South Africa's four URC franchises. Add the Currie Cup heroes from Cheetahs, Pumas and Griquas. The best XV of the comp, your call. Stormers won the URC in 2022.
Step out of the green jersey: Antoine Dupont (FR) at scrumhalf, Jonah Lomu (NZ) on the wing, Maro Itoje (ENG) at lock, Caelan Doris (IRE) at 8, Beauden Barrett, Bundee Aki. The World XV that would force Rassie back to the whiteboard.
The greatest rivalry in rugby. Build the All Blacks side that pushed the Boks to 12-11 in Paris 2023: Ardie Savea, Beauden Barrett, Will Jordan, Richie Mo'unga, Scott Barrett. Or go all-time: Lomu, McCaw, Carter, Meads, Fitzpatrick. The men in black who shaped Bok rugby by giving us something to chase.
Pick your union: Western Province blue-and-white hoops at Newlands, Blue Bulls at Loftus, Sharks at Kings Park, Lions XV at Ellis Park, Cheetahs at Free State, Pumas at Mbombela, Griquas at Kimberley, EP, Boland, Border. Currie Cup since 1889, terroir-deep.
Women's rugby in South Africa is finally getting the platform. Nolusindiso Booi the captain, Aseza Hele at 8, Babalwa Latsha first pro Bok woman, Libbie Janse van Rensburg at 10, Nadine Roos at 9. Qualified for the 2025 World Cup in England. The next generation.
Trevor Noah at scrumhalf (the chirp), Charlize Theron on the wing, Elon Musk at flyhalf (debatable), Wikus van de Merwe from District 9 at lock, Nelson Mandela as honorary captain. Or go full novel: a side picked from Coetzee's pages, with Tolkien at coach.
Upload your own photo cards. Stick your brother at 10, your bru at prop, your cousin on the wing, your oom as captain. The club Saturday XV, the Currie Cup club final XV, the team for the bachelor weekend. Custom and unlimited.
The Rugby World Cup 2027 kicks off across the Indian Ocean from 1 October to 13 November, expanded for the first time to 24 nations. Venues: Perth, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Melbourne. The Springboks — back-to-back defending champions after 1995, 2007, 2019 and 2023 — are chasing an unprecedented fifth star, with Rassie as architect and Tony Brown as head coach.
On TeamBranch, build your 2027 XV by scenario: Rassie and Brown's likely core, post-URC blooded XV, return of the 2023 veterans, full reset. Editable in two clicks.
International rugby rotates around a tight circle. Tier 1: the six European nations (France, England, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, Italy) and the four SANZAAR sides (South Africa, New Zealand, Australia, Argentina). On TeamBranch you can build the XV of any nation: current squads, all-time legends, or your perfect mix.
The URC (United Rugby Championship) is South Africa's top club tier since 2021 — four SA franchises against Ireland, Wales, Scotland and Italy. Stormers lifted the inaugural URC in 2022, Bulls reached the final twice. Below it sits the Currie Cup (since 1889) — the oldest rugby trophy outside Britain, contested by the provincial unions. On TeamBranch you can build the type-XV of any club, or a competition-wide all-star side.
Every team built on TeamBranch generates a unique link + an Open Graph card with photos, numbers and a green-and-gold banner. Share it on WhatsApp, X, Insta, challenge your bru, kick off the club WhatsApp argument.
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