BREAKING: Pollard at 10 for Springboks, Kolbe ruled out
· The South African
For this Saturday’s Test in Cape Town, Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has named a similar starting XV to the one that lined up against the All Blacks in Johannesburg last week.
The only changes see Siya Kolisi bracketed alongside Paul de Villiers at flanker, while Handre Pollard and Cobus Reinach will start as the halfback pairing, and Ethan Hooker takes over from Cheslin Kolbe on the wing after he picked up a niggle in the first Test.
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Should Kolisi make it through training comfortably this week, he will replace Paul de Villiers, joining Du Toit and Jasper Wiese in the loose trio, while Hooker’s inclusion sees Kurt-Lee Arendse switch from the left to right wing in an exciting back three with Damian Willemse. Pieter-Steph du Toit retains the captaincy.
If Kolisi runs out at DHL Stadium, it will be the most experienced Springbok team ever to take the field, with a combined total of 1012 Test caps in the starting XV.
The switches on the bench sees the inclusion of 39-year-old Deon Fourie in a back-up front row with Gerhard Steenekamp and Thomas du Toit, while Lood de Jager (lock) and Cameron Hanekom (loose forward) will join hybrid Andre Esterhuizen as the replacement forwards.
The two replacement backs, meanwhile, are scrumhalf Morne van den Berg and the versatile Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Saturday’s Test will kick off at 17:10.
Springbok utility forward Pieter-Steph du Toit will become the 11th player in Bok history to earn 100 Test caps, while he has actually been listed as captain in the team sheet due to the uncertainty over Kolisi.
SPRINGBOKS – 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Ethan Hooker, 10 Handrè Pollard, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit (c), 6 Siya Kolisi/Paul de Villiers, 5 Ruan Nortjè, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nchè.
Subs: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Thomas du Toit, 19 Lood de Jager, 20 Andrè Esterhuizen, 21 Cameron Hanekom, 22 Mornè van den Berg, 23 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
Springbok record against New Zealand:
Played: 111, Won: 43, Lost: 64, Drawn: 4. Points for: 1 866; Points against: 2 302; Tries scored: 182; Tries conceded: 253. Win %: 37,7%.
Aiming to bounce back
All of the players in the matchday squad, with the exception of Fourie – who last wore the green and gold jersey in the 2023 Rugby World Cup Final – featured in the Boks’ last two Test matches, against Argentina and the All Blacks.
“Cheslin and Grant (Williams) suffered niggles last weekend, which ruled them out of contention for selection, while we have bracketed Siya alongside Paul to allow us time to monitor how Siya comes through training this week,” said Erasmus.
“The changes we made are in line with what we want to achieve on the field this week, and it is valuable that almost all of the players have been involved in the last two games, so they will be able to cope with the intensity and physicality of this match.”