Springboks-All Blacks: Teams, kick off time, referee

· The South African

The Springboks must claim victory over the All Blacks in Cape Town this weekend in order to keep their hopes alive of winning Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Series.

After a heavy loss at Ellis Park, another defeat would not only set off serious alarm bells for the Springboks, but it would mean the team could only draw the four-match series.

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Rassie Erasmus’ side have been boosted by the availability of Siya Kolisi, while the coaching staff have a number of changes to the team from last weekend, which includes backing Handre Pollard at flyhalf.

Meanwhile, for the All Blacks, prop George Bower comes in for Ethan de Groot who is still undergoing HIA protocols, together with lock Josh Lord. Tupou Vaa’i moves to the second row, replacing Lord, with Simon Parker in the No 6 jersey.

In the backs, there is just one positional switch from last week’s team, with Leroy Carter and Josh Moorby swapping positions. Carter starts in the 11 jersey and Moorby is outside back cover in the 23 jersey.

There has also been a late change to the match referee as Nika Amashukeli has been ruled out with illness. Angus Gardner (Australia) will now officiate this weekend’s clash.

Saturday’s Test will kick off at 17:10.

HERE IS EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW AS THE SPRINGBOKS TACKLE THE ALL BLACKS AGAIN

SPRINGBOKS – 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Ethan Hooker, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Ruan Nortjé, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nché.
Subs: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Thomas du Toit, 19 Lood de Jager, 20 André Esterhuizen, 21 Cameron Hanekom, 22 Morné van den Berg, 23 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.

ALL BLACKS – 15 Damian McKenzie, 14 Will Jordan, 13 Quinn Tupaea, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Leroy Carter, 10 Ruben Love, 9 Cam Roigard, 8 Ardie Savea (c), 7 Luke Jacobson, 6 Simon Parker, 5 Tupou Vaa’i, 4 Fabian Holland, 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 George Bower.
Subs: 16 Asafo Aumua, 17 Xavier Numia, 18 Fletcher Newell, 19 Patrick Tuipulotu, 20 Peter Lakai, 21 Kyle Preston, 22 Anton Lienert-Brown, 23 Josh Moorby.

MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant referee 1: Karl Dickson (England)
Assistant referee 2: Sam Grove-White (Scotland)
TMO: Brett Cronan (Australia)
FPRO: Eric Gauzins (France)

Stats and facts:

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%.

Miscellaneous:

  • Pieter-Steph du Toit will become the 11th player in Springbok history to feature in 100 Tests on Saturday after making his international debut against Wales in 2013. He will also be the second player in as many weeks to achieve this significant milestone after Damian de Allende earned his 100th last weekend.
  • Prop Ox Nche will join the select club of players who have played 50 Tests.
  • Eben Etzebeth will extend his record as the most capped Springbok player of all time to 144 caps.
  • Should he take the field, Deon Fourie will become the oldest Springbok player to play in a Test match at 39 years old, surpassing Victor Matfield and Schalk Brits who were 38 years old in their last Test matches.
  • This game will mark Fourie’s first game back since the RWC final in France, which also happened to be against the All Blacks, with the Boks winning the match 12-11 to lift the trophy.
  • The last time the Springboks met the All Blacks in Cape Town was in the Rugby Championship in 2024, with the Boks winning the match 18-12.
  • The Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series marks the first time since 1996 that the All Blacks have embarked on a traditional rugby tour to South Africa.
  • The Springboks have won five of the last seven matches between the teams dating back to August 2023.
  • With Kolisi starting, the total Test caps in the Springbok starting line-up is 1012 – the highest ever fielded by South Africa. There are 428 caps in the backline, with 584 caps among the forwards. On the bench, there are a further 204 caps.
  • The average caps per player in the backline is 61, the forwards 73, while the players on the bench average 26.

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