Boks change up for NZ

Canan Moodie (wing) and Jaden Hendrikse (scrumhalf) make their first appearances in the Springbok jersey since the 2023 Rugby World Cup on Saturday while double RWC winners Willie le Roux (fullback) and Lukhanyo Am (utility back) also return to the match-23 face New Zealand in the Castle Lager Rugby Championship in Cape Town.

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus recalled the quartet to the side, which shows seven changes, two of which are positional, to the starting XV which defeated the All Blacks, 31-27, at Emirates Airline Park in Johannesburg on Saturday.

Grant Williams (scrumhalf) earns his first start of the season in partnership with Handre Pollard (flyhalf) who is promoted from the bench along with Eben Etzebeth (lock), while Le Roux and Moodie come straight into the XV.

Springbok captain Siya Kolisi, who took a hard blow to the cheek in last week’s clash, made it through all the training sessions this week, and has been cleared to play, which will see him start in a powerful loose trio with Jasper Wiese (No 8) and Pieter-Steph du Toit, who reverts from lock to flanker.

Etzebeth will pair up with the hard-working Ruan Nortje in the engine room, while Du Toit’s inclusion in the loose trio and Le Roux as the last line of defence sees Ben-Jason Dixon and Aphelele Fassi sit out of this week’s encounter, along with scrumhalf Cobus Reinach.

Moodie fills the void left by Kurt-Lee Arendse, who has been ruled out of the match due to concussion, with his inclusion seeing Kolbe move from the right to left wing.

The Boks have reverted to a traditional five-three split on the bench with Am joining Hendrikse and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (utility back) among the back replacements.

Erasmus warned that he was expecting New Zealand to raise their game to greater heights than last week’s nail-biter.

“This match is going to massive,” said Erasmus.

“New Zealand are a world class outfit and we know that they’ll be desperate to bounce back after leading in the second half last week.

“They’ll also be fully aware of the fact that a victory could give them a huge boost on the Castle Lager Rugby Championship standings, and they’ll be playing to retain the Freedom Cup, which they’ve held since 2010. It’s going to be another epic encounter.

“They’re a quality team with a lot of pace and several players who have a great X-factor. We also saw last week what they can do if they get a strong start, while they have proven time and time again that they are a team that can close out games under a lot of pressure in the last 20 minutes, so it’s going to take a huge team effort to register a victory against them.”

Moodie and Hendrikse return for the first time since running out in the Bok jersey against Tonga in the Rugby World Cup pool stages in France 11 months ago. The pair have recovered from surgery to a fractured finger (Moodie) and shoulder (Hendrikse) while Kolisi has overcome his facial injury.

Erasmus was delighted to have Kolisi in his starting team and said: “Siya is a world-class player and captain, and he adds immense value to the team with the way he leads by example and galvanises the team when the pressure is on.

“Similarly to the call we made with Eben last week, our team policy is that if a player trains on a Monday and gets through training during the week pain free, they can be selected for the weekend, and Siya did just that.

“Honesty from the players about whether they can play and deliver fully on what we expect from them is a key part of our team culture, so have full faith in Siya to give everything on the field.”

A total of 13 players in the team played in the Rugby World Cup final against the All Blacks, which the Springboks won 12-11. They are: Bongi Mbonambi, Frans Malherbe, Etzebeth, captain Siya Kolisi, Du Toit, Pollard, Kolbe, Damian de Allende, Jesse Kriel, Ox Nche, Kwagga Smith, Jasper Wiese and Le Roux.

The squad features 19 Rugby World Cup-winners in total, with the only four players in the match-23 that did not participate in the international extravaganza being Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Nortje, Elrigh Louw and Gerhard Steenekamp.

The bench features the same front row that took on the All Blacks in Johannesburg, Malcolm Marx (hooker), Steenekamp and Koch (both props), while loose forwards Louw and Smith complete the forward replacements.

Etzebeth will close in on Victor Matfield’s record as the most capped Springbok (127 caps) as he plays his 126^thTest, while Le Roux’s start will nudge him to only three Tests away from joining the select group of Springbok centurions.

However, Erasmus was not focused on potential records, should they register a victory, which could include winning four successive Tests against the All Blacks for only the second time in the history of the game, regaining the Freedom Cup for the first time since 2009, and changing their fortunes in Cape Town where the visitors have won four of their last five matches.

The Bok coach said the team’s only focus was on delivering a quality performance as they look to continue building momentum after their encouraging start to the competition.

A victory would also see the Springboks take a major step toward winning the competition for the first time since 2019.

“It would be fantastic to achieve that as a team, but if you look too far ahead it comes back to bite you,” said Erasmus.

“The focus for us all week is to try to deliver the best possible performance we can against New Zealand and to correct the wrongs of last week.

“New Zealand have not been the best team in the world for some many years for nothing. They’re a formidable team and they’ve shown in the past against us that you never write them off. We saw how they bounced back against Argentina after losing their first match of the tournament.

“They’ll also be motivated by the fact that Cape Town has been a good hunting ground for them; they’ll be inspired to make a strong statement this week.

“Like us, they’ve a lot to play for, so we know it’ll be as intense and as tight as it ever has been between us. It’s going to take another hard grind for the full 80 minutes.

Meanwhile the Boks released three players, Steven Kitshoff (prop), Ben-Jason Dixon (flanker) and Makazole Mapimpi (winger), to their provincial unions for more game time in the Carling Currie Cup as they continue to ensure that the players remain match-fit in the team’s title quest.

Mapimpi spent the week in KwaZulu-Natal for the birth of his child, and will remain in the province where he will be available for selection for the Hollywoodbets Sharks XV for their Carling Currie Cup clash against the Vodacom Bulls in Durban on Sunday.

Kitshoff – who recently returned to the field after recovering from a knee injury – and Dixon, who has become a regular feature in the national team this season, will return to DHL Western Province to prepare for their match against Suzuki Griquas on Friday.

Springbok team to face New Zealand in Cape Town:

15 – Willie le Roux (Vodacom Bulls) – 96 caps, 75 pts (15t)

14 – Canan Moodie (Vodacom Bulls) – 10 caps, 25 pts (5t)

13 – Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles) – 74 caps, 80 points (16t)

12 –Damian de Allende (Wild Knights) – 83 caps, 55 points (11t)

11 – Cheslin Kolbe (Suntory Sungoliath) – 36 caps, 96 points (15t, 3c, 5p)

10 – Handre Pollard (Leicester Tigers) – 74 caps, 734 points (7t, 99c, 162p, 5dg)

9 – Grant Williams (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 14 caps, 15 points (3t)

8 – Jasper Wiese (Urayasu D-Rocks) – 28 caps, 5 points (1t)

7 – Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz) – 82 caps, 45 points (9t)

6 – Siya Kolisi (captain, Racing 92) – 87 caps, 55 points (11t)

5 – Ruan Nortje (Vodacom Bulls) – 3 caps, 0 points

4 – Eben Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 125 caps, 30 points (6t)

3 – Frans Malherbe (DHL Stormers) – 74 caps, 5 points (1t)

2 – Bongi Mbonambi (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 73 caps, 75 points (15t)

1 – Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 34 caps, 0 points

Replacements:

16 – Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) – 70 caps, 95 points (19t)

17 – Gerhard Steenekamp (Vodacom Bulls) – 5 caps, 0 points

18 – Vincent Koch (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 55 caps, 0 points

19 – Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs) – 46 caps, 45 points (9t)

20 – Elrigh Louw (Vodacom Bulls) – 7 caps, 0 points

21 – Jaden Hendrikse (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 15 caps, 12 pts (2t, 1c)

22 – Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (DHL Stormers) – 7 caps, 49 points (14c, 4p)

23 – Lukhanyo Am (Hollywoodbets Sharks) - 37 caps, 35 pts (7t)

Stats and facts:

Springbok record against New Zealand:

Played: 107, Won: 41. Lost: 62, Drawn: 4. Points for: 1 772; Points against: 2 223; Tries scored: 171; Tries conceded: 244. Win %: 38.3%.

Miscellaneous:

• The centre pairing of Jesse Kriel and Damian de Allende will extend their record of playing the most Test matches together in the midfield to 33 (the previous record was held by Jean de Villiers and Jaque Fourie with 29 Tests).
• Handre Pollard needs nine points to overtake Morne Steyn (742 points) and move into second place on the Springbok all-time scorers’ list. Percy Montgomery leads with 893 points.
• Should Malcolm Marx score a try he will move to 20 and into tenth equal place on the all-time Springbok try-scoring list with James Small. He is already the leading Springbok forward try scorer.
• Cheslin Kolbe needs four points to reach 100 points in Tests for South Africa.
• Eben Etzebeth moves to within one appearance of equalling Victor Matfield’s record as the most capped Springbok player (127 Tests). Etzebeth will play his 126^th Test.
• Willie le Roux will play his 97^th Test, leaving him three appearances away from becoming the eighth Springbok to play in a century of Tests.
• The total Test caps for the Springbok starting line-up is 893.
• There are 387 caps in the backline, with 506 caps among the forwards. On the bench there are a further 242 caps.
• The average caps per player in the backline is 55, the forwards 63, while the players on the bench average 30.