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Springboks make nine changes to their team to host the All Blacks
By Liam Heagney
Rassie Erasmus has named a Springboks team to host the All Blacks next Saturday in Johannesburg that has nine changes from their Rugby Championship round two win over the Wallabies. South Africa registered their second victory of the tournament with their 30-12 success against Australia in Perth on August 17.
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That was achieved with a much changed selection – 10 alterations – from the previous week’s 33-7 triumph over the same opposition in Brisbane and Erasmus has now changed three backs, six of his pack and also restored the bench bomb squad to its traditional number of six forwards.
Aphelele Fassi, Cheslin Kolbe, Jesse Kriel and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu are the four retained backs, with Damian de Allende, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Cobus Reinach recalled to the line-up.
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In the forwards, only Ruan Nortje and Pieter-Steph du Toit remain from the last outing with Ox Nche, Bongi Mbonambi, Frans Malherbe, skipper Siya Kolisi, Ben-Jason Dixon and Jasper Wiese all including to start. For Wiese, it will be his first Test appearance in 2024.
On the bench, Erasmus has gone for a six forwards/two backs split, which is a change from the five/three make-up chosen in round two.
The starting XV has just three alterations when compared to South Africa’s round one team, with Willie le Roux, Eben Etzebeth and the benched Elrigh Louw missing out. Etzebeth’s back issue and Salmaan Moerat’s concussion, along with other lock injuries, have left Erasmus going with a novel second row pairing in Nortje and du Toit.
He explained: “It’s not ideal that we have so many injuries at lock, but we are pleased with the way Ruan stood his man in our last match and we are confident that he will combine well with Pieter-Steph at lock. This will serve as a fantastic opportunity for him to prove what he can do against one of the best teams in the world.
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“It is also good to have a player of Jasper’s calibre back and we know that he will bring a lot of energy on attack and defence after biding his time to return to the field, and we are looking forward to seeing his physicality combined with the rest of the back row.
“We also have a settled back line, and Aphelele made a strong statement against the Wallabies in Perth, so we are excited to see what they have to offer against a heavily attack-orientated All Black back line.”
Springboks (vs All Blacks, Saturday):
15 – Aphelele Fassi (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 6 caps, 15 points (3t)
14 – Cheslin Kolbe (Suntory Sungoliath) – 35 caps, 96 points (15t, 3c, 5p)
13 – Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles) – 73 caps, 80 points (16t)
12 – Damian de Allende (Wild Knights) – 82 caps, 55 points (11t)
11 – Kurt-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls) – 19 caps, 85 points (17t)
10 – Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (DHL Stormers) – 6 caps, 33 points (12c, 3p)
9 – Cobus Reinach (Montpellier) – 34 caps, 65 pts (13t)
8 – Jasper Wiese (Urayasu D-Rocks) – 27 caps, 5 pts (1t)
7 – Ben-Jason Dixon (DHL Stormers) – 3 caps, 5 points (1t)
6 – Siya Kolisi (captain, Racing 92) – 86 caps, 55 points (11t)
5 – Ruan Nortje (Vodacom Bulls) – 2 caps, 0 points
4 – Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz) – 81 caps, 45 points (9t)
3 – Frans Malherbe (DHL Stormers) – 73 caps, 5 points (1t)
2 – Bongi Mbonambi (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 72 caps, 70 points (14t)
1 – Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 33 caps, 0 pts
Replacements:
16 – Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) – 69 caps, 95 points (19t)
17 – Gerhard Steenekamp (Vodacom Bulls) – 4 caps, 0 points
18 – Vincent Koch (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 54 caps, 0 points
19 – Marco van Staden (Vodacom Bulls) – 22 caps, 10 pts (2t)
20 – Elrigh Louw (Vodacom Bulls) – 6 caps, 0 points
21 – Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs) – 45 caps, 40 pts (8t)
22 – Grant Williams (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 13 caps, 10 points (2t)
23 – Handre Pollard (Leicester Tigers) – 73 caps, 734 points (7t, 99c, 162p, 5dg)
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I am stoked to see Eben playing. He’s aggravating, niggly, rude, and it’s a damn shame there is no Eben-starts-sh1t-with-a-grin-on-his-face betting option.
The All Blacks will be fielding two young locks of limited experience (Tupou Va’i has played a good number of tests but in a bench/apprentice role), and there is no better way to grow them than at Ellis Park against the best.
ABs by 15.
One thing is for sure, Rassie will not die wondering.
The amount of injury in the wider bok squad a bit of a worry for me. Nobody can accuse Rassie of being boring. The 1st 40 will be fast-paced for sure.
Eben will play this Saturday.
I doubt that any kiwis will be knocked down by feathers if that happens! Anyway, we are in with a chance with a fair few younger players in both teams.
The Boks will win if their lineout holds up and they are fit enough to run the All Blacks ragged.
The all blacks lack tall timber in the loose forwards, less lineout options.
I was nervous before, now I'm going to be biting my nails. Not got a lot of confidence in a Bok victory, but if we can run good lines and open them up, there's always a chance.
Wow. Gutsy choices. Bombsquad looks impressive as usual barring the lack of out and out locks.
PSDT looked great at lock against the wallabies. Going to be interesting.
Down to the 5th/6th choice lock and PS Du Toit who usually plays flank. No Locks on the bench as well. Should be a difficult game at line out time. Looks more like a team for 2027 with the amount of young players in there
Closest to another lock will be Dixon, although let's hope for no injuries at lock. PSDT was a lock before he was converted to a flank by Jake White. Didn't play there for a long time until the other day, so will see what happens. RN is a great player for the Bulls, but still untested at international level. Now is his chance with all the injuries to make that 5 his, so his motivation should be high
Not an issue for the Boks who have massive depth in their forwards
The ABs have massive issues with lock depth