Springboks make 14 changes and include two new caps to start

Jacques Nienaber has made 14 changes to his Springboks side for Saturday’s second Test against Wales in Bloemfontein, lock Eben Etzebeth the only player to keep his starting place after South Africa left it late to break Welsh hearts last Saturday in Pretoria. Damian Willemse kicked a late match-winning penalty for that 32-29 win in a match that the visitors led 18-3 at half-time.

Wales went on to fight to the finish despite four yellow cards and that resistance has now been followed by Nienaber deciding to massively shake things up for the round two collision where he will be hoping his revamped Springboks can put the three-game series to bed with a match to spare.

The much-changed Springboks includes two uncapped players to start, right wing Kurt-Lee Arendse and No8 Evan Roos, while four more players – Ntuthuko Mchunu (prop), Ruan Nortje (lock), Deon Fourie (utility forward) and Grant Williams (scrum-half) – could debut from the bench.

Jacques Nienaber on Damian Willemse

Jacques Nienaber on Damian Willemse

A Springboks media release read: “Four players in the match 23 retained their places in the squad from last week’s 32-29 victory in the opening Test against Wales, namely experienced lock Eben Etzebeth, who will earn his 99th cap for South Africa on Saturday, while hooker Malcolm Marx, prop Vincent Koch and utility back Damian Willemse have been included on the bench.

“Furthermore, experienced fly-half Handre Pollard, who returns to the squad after not featuring in the first Test, will take over the captaincy from Siya Kolisi this week. Nienaber has again opted for a split of six forwards and two backs on the bench, with Willemse’s versatility seeing him able to cover fly-half, centre and full-back while Williams, who has been waiting in the wings at scrum-half, provides cover for his provincial teammate Jaden Hendrikse.”

Nienaber explained: “We said from the outset that we needed to strike a balance between giving our talented young players an opportunity to show what they can do at international level and winning. If one looks at the balance between players who have played at this level and those who have performed consistently well for their franchises and clubs, we have a nice balance in this squad.

“A number of these players have been with us for a few seasons while others travelled with us last season to Australia for the Rugby Championship and the year-end tour and then there are a few new faces who showed during the season that they have the potential to rise to this level of the game, so we are excited to see what they can do on Saturday.

“Wales showed last week that they are fighters and can go for the full 80 minutes and we are expecting nothing different from them this week. This will certainly be a good test for the younger players in the group to measure themselves against some of the best players in Wales, some of whom played for the British and Irish Lions, so everyone knows they will be in for a proper Test on Saturday.

“We are delighted to see these players get an opportunity at this level and I believe if they play to their potential, they will bolster our depth going forward. They are all very excited at the prospect of wearing the green and gold, but they also know what Wales will bring on the day and that every opportunity will be important.

“Handre is one of our most experienced players and has been part of our core leadership group for a number of years now, I’m sure he will slot into the role with ease,” continued the Springboks coach on handing Pollard the captaincy. “Wales will certainly gain confidence from their performance last week and I have no doubt they will feel aggrieved by the fact that they lost out so narrowly, so we know we have to produce a top-class performance to win this weekend.

“The set-pieces are going to be a key area once again and we have identified the areas that we need to improve on and have already started working on those facets of the game. They are a team that keeps going until the final whistle, so we expect them to push us to the limit, but we know what our standards are as a team, and every player knows what is expected of him.”

SPRINGBOKS (vs Wales, Saturday)
15. Warrick Gelant (Racing 92) 9 caps, 15 pts (3t)
14. Kurt-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls) – uncapped
13. Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles) – 51 caps, 60 pts (12t)
12. Andre Esterhuizen (Harlequins) 8 caps, 0 pts
11. Aphelele Fassi (Cell C Sharks) 2 caps, 10 pts (2t)
10. Handre Pollard (captain – Leicester) 60 caps, 601 pts (6t, 83c, 131p, 4d)
9. Jaden Hendrikse (Cell C Sharks) 2 caps, 5 pts (1t)
8. Evan Roos (DHL Stormers) – uncapped
7. Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz) 58 caps, 25 pts (5t)
6. Marcell Coetzee (Vodacom Bulls) 30 caps, 30 pts (6t)
5. Marvin Orie (DHL Stormers) – 7 caps, 0 pts
4. Eben Etzebeth (Cell C Sharks) 98 caps, 15 pts (3t)
3. Trevor Nyakane (Racing 92) 54 caps, 5pts (1t)
2. Joseph Dweba (DHL Stormers) 1 cap, 0 pts
1. Thomas du Toit (Cell C Sharks) 13 caps, 0 pts

Replacements:
16. Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) 47 caps, 55 pts (11t)
17. Ntuthuko Mchunu (Cell C Sharks) – uncapped
18. Vincent Koch (Wasps) 32 caps, 0 pts
19. Ruan Nortje (Vodacom Bulls) – uncapped
20. Rynhardt Elstadt (Toulouse) – 3 caps, 0 pts
21. Deon Fourie (DHL Stormers – uncapped)
22. Grant Williams (Cell C Sharks) – uncapped
23. Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers) 17 caps, 12 pts (1T, 2C, 1P)