While Buckner won’t score 20 sacks in a single season, he did set a career high of 12.0 in 2018 and has ended every season with at least 7.0 sacks since his outstanding breakthrough year. In 2023, he recorded 8.0 sacks and 11 tackles for a loss.
Speaking of TFLs, since joining the league in 2016, the 6-foot-7 interior lineman has accumulated 80 tackles for a loss. In addition, there were two defensive scores, nine forced fumbles, ten fumble recoveries, 161 quarterback hits, and 27 pass defences.
Buckner is rated as a plus-disruptor by Pro Football Focus, having pressured the quarterback 50 times or more in most of his seasons. He is also a good run defender, with marks that have stayed around 70.0 for much of his career.
Rassie Erasmus continued to play a pivotal role within the Boks team. Though he had handed over the reins as coach to Nienaber, the former third row remained a prominent player selection and playing system consultant.
His technical skills and a few biting comments against referees have kept him in the limelight. He was suspended in 2021 for one of them after he attacked England’s Wayne Barnes, whose family had received offensive remarks on social media. Apart from these antics, though, he once again proved his dominance of world rugby with the innovations and strategic manoeuvres he made alongside Nienaber during the 2023 World Cup.
For instance, the Springboks used to start the World Cup with a bench of seven forwards, but they shocked everyone—especially the favourites, France—by starting with just five “big” players among the replacements in their quarterfinal victory over Les Bleus (29–28).When he took over as coach of the Boks in 2018, he turned around a faltering team, and a year and a half later, they won their third world title in Japan.
After the fourth final match against the All Blacks, four years later, he was on the pitch at the Stade de France to celebrate his grunts, De Klerk, Kolisi, and Etzebeth.
