Erasmus names new-look team to face Wallabies in Cape Town

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus named a team featuring 10 changes to the starting XV for their second Castle Lager Rugby Championship match against Australia in Cape Town on Saturday, with Jesse Kriel leading the side for the second time in a Test, with returns for Cheslin Kolbe, Damian de Allende, and Bok centurion Willie le Roux.

Powerful prop Ox Nche will serve as Kriel’s vice-captain for the first time in his international career, which dates back to 2018 when he made his Springbok debut against Wales in Washington DC.

Only five players in the starting-15 retained their places from the team’s 38-22 defeat against the Wallabies in Johannesburg last week, while a total of 13 players were involved in the encounter at Ellis Park.

The five players who will start against Australia for the second week in a row are Nche, Malcolm Marx, Marco van Staden, Grant Williams, and Kriel – who takes over the captaincy from the injured Siya Kolisi – while Franco Mostert, Canan Moodie, Wilco Louw, Boan Venter, Eben Etzebeth, Lood de Jager, Kwagga Smith, and Cobus Reinach are the other players who will get another run against the visitors.

Four players were ruled out of contention for selection due to injury, namely Kolisi (loose forward), Pieter-Steph du Toit (utility forward), and wings Kurt-Lee Arendse, Edwill van der Merwe.

The only change to Erasmus’ front row was the inclusion of prop Thomas du Toit, who will pack down alongside Nche and Marx, while the Bok coach named a new lock pairing of RG Snyman and Ruan Nortje. Van Staden, meanwhile, will form a loose trio with Franco Mostert and Jean-Luc du Preez.

The backline, in turn, sees the experienced duo of Kriel and Damian de Allende reunite in the midfield for the 38^th time, while Grant Williams and Handre Pollard will partner up at halfback, Kolbe and Moodie at wing, and Le Roux – who became only the eighth player in SA rugby history to earn 100 Test caps against Georgia last month – completing the backline at fullback.

Erasmus named six forwards and two backs on the replacements bench, where Marnus van der Merwe, Venter, and Louw will serve as the impact front row, along with the experienced trio of Etzebeth, De Jager, and Smith.

The two backline players on the bench are the versatile Reinach and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.

Erasmus attributed the changes to injuries and strategic adjustments for the forthcoming challenge.

“We lost four players to injury last weekend, which obviously had an impact on a few of our selections, but we also know where we went wrong against Australia last week, so we made a few changes that we believe will offer us what we need for this game,” said Erasmus.

“Damian and Cheslin have also recovered from their injuries, and with their experience and knowledge of the Wallabies, it was a logical choice to recall them.”

Erasmus added: “We are determined to get things right this week. Boan got a taste of what it’s like to face Australia last week, and Ruan did well against them last year, while it will be good for a few other guys to experience playing against one the top teams in the world, especially as we continue to build our squad depth.

“We are pleased with this squad, and we are all aligned on what we have to do to lift our standards this week.”

Erasmus expected another physical battle against the Wallabies: “There’s no doubt they’ll take a lot of confidence from their victory last week, and especially since that marked their first victory at Ellis Park against us in the professional era.

“We are still hurting from that result, and the coaches and players are extremely disappointed with the way we played last week. We know we didn’t play according to our standards in the second half, and we must rectify that.

“We let ourselves and the country down, so we have all the motivation we need to make things right this week.”

The Boks may have enjoyed success against the Wallabies in Cape Town since 1992, where the hosts have won seven out of the eight Tests between the sides, but Erasmus said history was insignificant.

“We don’t believe in previous records and Australia showed last week that it is insignificant, so we are under no illusions that this match is going to be another proper grind,” said Erasmus.

“They also showed that they can fight until the end, so it will be vital for us to give everything until the final whistle this weekend. This match is essential for us to get our campaign on track, and we all realise the importance of ensuring that we do not make the same mistakes as last week.”

The match kicks off at 17h10 and will be broadcast live on SuperSport.

Springbok team to face Australia in Cape Town:

15 Willie le Roux(Vodacom Bulls) – 100 caps, 75 pts (15t)

14 Canan Moodie (Vodacom Bulls) – 15 caps, 35 pts (7t)

13 Jesse Kriel(captain, Canon Eagles) – 81 caps, 95 points (19t)

12 Damian de Allende(Wild Knights) – 89 caps, 55 points (11t)

11 Cheslin Kolbe(Tokyo Sungoliath) – 41 caps, 111 points (18t, 3c, 5p)

10 Handre Pollard(Vodacom Bulls) - 82 caps,797 points (7t, 116c, 168p, 5dg)

9 Grant Williams (Hollywoodbets Sharks) –20 caps, 25 pts (5t)

8 Jean-Luc du Preez(Bordeaux Begles) – 14 caps 10 points (2t)

7 Franco Mostert(Honda Heat) – 80 caps, 20 points (4t)

6 Marco van Staden (Vodacom Bulls) –28 caps, 15 pts (3t)

5 Ruan Nortje (Vodacom Bulls) –8 caps, 0 pts

4 RG Snyman(Leinster) – 42 caps, 10 points (2t)

3 Thomas du Toit (Bath) –25 caps, 5 pts (1t)

2 Malcolm Marx(Kubota Spears) – 79 caps, 115 pts (23t)

1 Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks) –42 caps, 0 pts

Replacements:

16 Marnus van der Merwe(Scarlets) – 1 cap, 10 points (2t)

17 Boan Venter (Edinburgh) –2 caps, 5 pts (1t)

18 Wilco Louw (Vodacom Bulls) –19 caps, 0 pts

19 Eben Etzebeth(Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 134 caps, 35 points (7t)

20 Lood de Jager(Wild Knights) – 68 caps, 25 points (5t)

21 Kwagga Smith(Shizuoka Blue Revs) – 54 caps, 45 points (9t)

22 Cobus Reinach (DHL Stormers) –41 caps, 70 pts (14t)

23 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (DHL Stormers) -10 caps, 54 points (15c, 8p)

Facts and Stats

Head-to-head v Australia

Played 96; Won 52; Lost 41; Drawn 3; Points for: 1 945, Points against: 1 710; Tries scored 230, Tries conceded 177; Highest score 61-22 (Pretoria, 1997); Biggest win 45 points (53-8, Johannesburg 2008). Win % 54.2%.

Miscellaneous

• Jesse Kriel will lead the Springboks for the second time in a Test after taking charge of the team against Italy in the Castle Lager Incoming Series in July.
• Ox Nche will serve as the Springbok vice-captain for the first time in his career, which began back in 2018.
• Jesse Kriel and Damian de Allende will extend their record as the most-capped Springbok centre pairing in history, taking the field together for the 38^th time this weekend.
• Eben Etzebeth will extend his record as the most capped Springbok of all time to 134 Test matches.
• Handre Pollard needs three points to reach 800 points in Tests for South Africa.
• Damian De Allende will move into 10^th place on the list of most-capped Springboks, with 90 Tests. He is currently tied on 89 with Pieter-Steph du Toit and the late Joost van der Westhuizen.
• The match will mark the first time the teams meet in Cape Town since 2014 – the Boks won the match 28-10.
• The Boks have won seven of their last eight matches against the Wallabies in Cape Town since 1992 – a track record they will be determined to build on this weekend. Their only defeat against the Wallabies in Cape Town was in 1992, when the visitors won 26-3.
• The total Test caps for the Springbok starting line-up are725.
• There are428 caps in the backline, with 318 caps amongst the forwards. On the bench, there are a further329 caps.
• The average caps per player in the backline are61, the forwards 40, while the players on the bench average 41.