Rassie Erasmus has named a Springbok team for Saturday that changes as little as he could get away with, and he has taken it to the one South African ground where the All Blacks have never lost.
MATCH DETAILS:
FIXTURE: South Africa v New Zealand
SERIES: Castle Lager Double Malt Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry, third Test
DATE: Saturday
VENUE: FNB Stadium, Soweto
KICKOFF: 17h10 SAST
SPRINGBOK TEAM TO FACE THE ALL BLACKS AT FNB STADIUM:
15 Cheslin Kolbe (DHL Stormers) – 52 caps, 170 pts (22t, 12c, 12p)
14 Kurt-Lee Arendse (Mitsubishi Dynaboars) – 33 caps, 125 pts (25t)
13 Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles) – 92 caps, 120 pts (24t)
12 Damian de Allende (Wild Knights) – 101 caps, 60 pts (12t)
11 Ethan Hooker (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 11 caps, 10 pts (2t)
10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (DHL Stormers) – 22 caps, 177 pts (9t, 45c, 14p)
9 Cobus Reinach (DHL Stormers) – 55 caps, 100 pts (20t)
8 Jasper Wiese (Urayasu D-Rocks) – 47 caps, 20 pts (4t)
7 Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz) – 100 caps, 70 pts (14t)
6 Siya Kolisi (captain, DHL Stormers) – 105 caps, 75 pts (15t)
5 Ruan Nortje (Kubota Spears) – 22 caps, 5 pts (1t)
4 Eben Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 144 caps, 45 pts (9t)
3 Wilco Louw (DHL Stormers) – 33 caps, 10 pts (2t)
2 Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) – 91 caps, 135 pts (27t)
1 Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 50 caps, 0 pts
REPLACEMENTS:
16 Deon Fourie (DHL Stormers) – 14 caps, 10 pts (2t)
17 Gerhard Steenekamp (Vodacom Bulls) – 21 caps, 10 pts (2t)
18 Thomas du Toit (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 35 caps, 10 pts (2t)
19 Lood de Jager (Wild Knights) – 75 caps, 25 pts (5t)
20 Andre Esterhuizen (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 33 caps, 30 pts (6t)
21 Cameron Hanekom (Vodacom Bulls) – 4 caps, 5 pts (1t)
22 Morne van den Berg (10bet Lions) – 8 caps, 25 pts (5t)
23 Manie Libbok (Kintetsu Liners) – 32 caps, 143 pts (2t, 47c, 13p)
The teams have met twice at FNB Stadium, in 2010 and 2012, and New Zealand won both, 29-22 and then 32-16. Almost nobody in this matchday squad was involved in either. For most of them, Saturday is a first look at a bowl that holds 80 000 people and sounds like nothing else in world rugby.
Erasmus is clearly relishing it.
“We are excited that we will be playing at the FNB stadium, where on a good day there is an 80 000 strong crowd, and that will be a new and exciting experience for our players because most of these players have never ran onto the field there, and the support we enjoy there will add to the occasion,” he said.
“With the vuvuzelas and passionate crowd there, we can hardly hear one another on the field, so we are all thrilled about this occasion.”
The four changes are all in the tight five and the back three, and three of them are a reversal. Ox Nche, Wilco Louw and Malcolm Marx come back into the front row that Erasmus originally named a week ago, before he switched it for conditions. Gerhard Steenekamp, Thomas du Toit and Deon Fourie drop to the bench.
Rassie Erasmus, Springbok head coach:
“We decided to change our front rows last week due to the weather conditions, and Johannesburg weather is different to Cape Town, so we thought this would be the best decision for us this weekend.”
The fourth change was forced. Damian Willemse took a knock in the first half and is unavailable, and with Handre Pollard also out, Cheslin Kolbe shifts to fullback and Kurt-Lee Arendse comes onto the wing.
“Kurt-Lee was unlucky not to play last week after Cheslin recovered from his niggle, so we are pleased to see him back,” Erasmus said. “He is a quality player and his 25 tries in 33 matches so far shows the type of player he is.”
“Kolbe on fullback is going to be crazy exciting in Soweto! I can’t wait to see the havoc he’s about to unleash.” – 🎙️Jay
Everything else stays exactly where it was, which is the point.
“It was always our plan to have a little more continuity in player combinations for this series and we thought that the players who did the job for us last week really showed composure and did well to stick to the plan and what we wanted to achieve last week.”
There is a stack of history riding on this Springbok team beyond the series itself. Eben Etzebeth extends his own record to 145 Test caps. The loose trio of Siya Kolisi, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Jasper Wiese make a 17th start together, taking them clear of the mark they share with Francois Louw, Willem Alberts and Duane Vermeulen, and three ahead of the Erasmus, Andre Venter and Gary Teichmann combination.
Deon Fourie, already the oldest man to play a Test for South Africa at 39, pushes that record along by another week if he gets on. Wiese needs two more appearances after this one to reach 50.
The series is level at one apiece after South Africa’s 33-26 win, with this Test and next week’s finale in the United States to come. Erasmus is not expecting anything to get easier.
“We know how it felt after the first match in Johannesburg, and such a result really galvanises a team, so we have no doubt that they will go full-out to win this Test match before the series finale in the USA next week,” he said.
“They are one of the two best teams in the world and based on experience, they never give up, as we saw last weekend, so this will undoubtedly be another epic encounter between the sides. After two games, we are both into hard Test rugby mode, and we have a good idea of what to expect from one another, so it is going to be another grind of a match.”
The broader ledger still belongs to New Zealand: 112 meetings, 44 South African wins, 64 losses and four draws. The recent ledger does not. The Springboks have taken six of the last eight since August 2023, and the All Blacks arrive in Soweto knowing a defeat leaves them chasing the series in America.
“This game is going to be equally, if not more intense than the last two given the fact that the team that wins this match will be two games up in the series,” Erasmus said. “Composure and accuracy are going to be vital for both sides.”
The match is live on SuperSport.
