The Springbok Team to face the All Blacks at 10bet Ellis Park on Saturday bears almost no resemblance to the side that beat Argentina a fortnight ago.
MATCH DETAILS:
FIXTURE: South Africa v New Zealand, first Test
SERIES: Castle Lager Double Malt Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry
DATE: Saturday, 22 August 2026
VENUE: 10bet Ellis Park, Johannesburg
KICKOFF: 17h10 SAST
SPRINGBOK TEAM TO FACE THE ALL BLACKS:
15 Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers) – 52 caps, 76 pts (8t, 9c, 4p, 2dg)
14 Cheslin Kolbe (DHL Stormers) – 50 caps, 131 pts (22t, 3c, 5p)
13 Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles) – 90 caps, 115 pts (23t)
12 Damian de Allende (Wild Knights) – 99 caps, 55 pts (11t)
11 Kurt-Lee Arendse (Mitsubishi Dynaboars) – 32 caps, 125 pts (25t)
10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (DHL Stormers) – 20 caps, 177 pts (9t, 45c, 14p)
9 Grant Williams (Kobe Steelers) – 30 caps, 40 pts (8t)
8 Jasper Wiese (Urayasu D-Rocks) – 46 caps, 20 pts (4t)
7 Pieter-Steph du Toit (captain, Toyota Verblitz) – 98 caps, 70 pts (14t)
6 Paul de Villiers (DHL Stormers) – 3 caps, 5 pts (1t)
5 Ruan Nortje (Kubota Spears) – 20 caps, 5 pts (1t)
4 Eben Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 142 caps, 45 pts (9t)
3 Wilco Louw (DHL Stormers) – 31 caps, 10 pts (2t)
2 Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) – 89 caps, 135 pts (27t)
1 Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 48 caps, 0 pts
REPLACEMENTS:
16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Vodacom Bulls) – 13 caps, 10 pts (2t)
17 Gerhard Steenekamp (Vodacom Bulls) – 19 caps, 10 pts (2t)
18 Zachary Porthen (DHL Stormers) – 6 caps, 5 pts (1t)
19 Cobus Wiese (Vodacom Bulls) – 5 caps, 0 pts
20 Andre Esterhuizen (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 31 caps, 25 pts (5t)
21 Marco van Staden (Vodacom Bulls) – 36 caps, 20 pts (4t)
22 Cobus Reinach (DHL Stormers) – 53 caps, 100 pts (20t)
23 Manie Libbok (Kintetsu Liners) – 30 caps, 147 pts (2t, 49c, 13p)
Two men keep their starting jerseys from Buenos Aires. Eben Etzebeth is one, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu the other. The remaining thirteen in Rassie Erasmus’ run-on side never got on the plane — they stayed in Johannesburg and started work on this series while the rest of the squad went to South America.
Seven more of the players from that 17-10 win in Buenos Aires have been given bench roles rather than being discarded. Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Marco van Staden and Cobus Wiese cover across the forwards, Gerhard Steenekamp and Zachary Porthen handle the front-row rotation, Andre Esterhuizen brings both flank and centre cover, and Cobus Reinach lines up as one of the two specialist backs alongside Manie Libbok.
The most welcome name on the sheet is at loosehead. Ox Nche is back from injury and packs down with Wilco Louw and Malcolm Marx, the front row that has done more heavy lifting for this Springbok team than any other combination available to Erasmus.
Rassie Erasmus, Springbok head coach:
“It certainly helped to have some players return from injury last week and to get back into top-flight Test rugby, while some of the others who had a heavy workload in the Nations Championship had sufficient time to recover from the physical toll on them.”
Behind Ox Nche, Etzebeth reunites with Ruan Nortje in the engine room. The loose trio is where the selection gets interesting: Jasper Wiese at eight, captain Pieter-Steph du Toit at seven, and Paul de Villiers at six.
De Villiers has three caps. He has never played New Zealand. He gets the number six jersey ahead of Siya Kolisi, and Erasmus did not dress that up as anything other than what it is.
Rassie Erasmus, Springbok head coach:
“Siya trained well with us this week, and although we could have selected him for this clash, we thought it would be best to select Paul (de Villiers) for this weekend’s game. We are playing four Tests against the All Blacks and Paul has been playing well, so we are excited to give him a chance this weekend in what will be his first Test match against New Zealand, while taking a precautionary approach to Siya’s return.”
Four Tests is the number that explains this whole Springbok team sheet. Nobody is being written off in August when there are three more of these to come.
“Rassie spent eight years building the depth of this side and now he finally gets to apply them four weekends in a row!” – 🎙️Jay
The backline picks itself in places and rewards patience in others. Grant Williams partners Feinberg-Mngomezulu at halfback, Cheslin Kolbe and Kurt-Lee Arendse take the wings, and Damian Willemse wears fifteen. In midfield, Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel continue as the most-capped centre pairing in Test rugby.
Erasmus kept faith with the replacement front row he used two weeks ago, an unusual piece of continuity in a match-day 23 that has otherwise turned over almost completely.
Rassie Erasmus, Springbok head coach:
“The All Blacks are a quality team, and we selected combinations we think would be best suited for the challenge this weekend. The squad is well balanced with players who remained in South Africa to train for this series and some of the players who featured against Argentina. The whole group has now been together for over a week, and we are all aligned regarding the way we want to play this weekend.”
The Castle Lager Double Malt Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry opener is live on SuperSport.
