There is a bracket in the Springbok team named for Cape Town on Saturday, and it is the most interesting thing on the sheet.
MATCH DETAILS:
FIXTURE: South Africa v New Zealand, second Test
SERIES: Castle Lager Double Malt Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry
DATE: Saturday, 29 August 2026
VENUE: DHL Stadium, Cape Town
KICKOFF: 17h10 SAST
SPRINGBOK TEAM TO FACE THE ALL BLACKS:
15 Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers) – 53 caps, 76 pts (8t, 9c, 4p, 2dg)
14 Kurt-Lee Arendse (Mitsubishi Dynaboars) – 33 caps, 125 pts (25t)
13 Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles) – 91 caps, 115 pts (23t)
12 Damian de Allende (Wild Knights) – 100 caps, 55 pts (11t)
11 Ethan Hooker (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 10 caps, 10 pts (2t)
10 Handre Pollard (Vodacom Bulls) – 87 caps, 832 pts (8t, 130c, 175p, 5dg)
9 Cobus Reinach (DHL Stormers) – 54 caps, 100 pts (20t)
8 Jasper Wiese (Urayasu D-Rocks) – 46 caps, 20 pts (4t)
7 Pieter-Steph du Toit (captain, Toyota Verblitz) – 99 caps, 70 pts (14t)
6 Siya Kolisi (DHL Stormers) – 104 caps, 70 pts (14t) / Paul de Villiers (DHL Stormers) – 4 caps, 5 pts (1t)
5 Ruan Nortje (Kubota Spears) – 21 caps, 5 pts (1t)
4 Eben Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 143 caps, 45 pts (9t)
3 Wilco Louw (DHL Stormers) – 32 caps, 10 pts (2t)
2 Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) – 90 caps, 135 pts (27t)
1 Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 49 caps, 0 pts
REPLACEMENTS:
16 Deon Fourie (DHL Stormers) – 13 caps, 10 pts (2t)
17 Gerhard Steenekamp (Vodacom Bulls) – 20 caps, 10 pts (2t)
18 Thomas du Toit (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 34 caps, 10 pts (2t)
19 Lood de Jager (Wild Knights) – 74 caps, 25 pts (5t)
20 Andre Esterhuizen (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 32 caps, 30 pts (6t)
21 Cameron Hanekom (Vodacom Bulls) – 3 caps, 5 pts (1t)
22 Morne van den Berg (10bet Lions) – 7 caps, 25 pts (5t)
23 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (DHL Stormers) – 21 caps, 177 pts (9t, 45c, 14p)
Siya Kolisi and Paul de Villiers share the number six jersey until the end of the week. Kolisi was held back at Ellis Park as a precaution, and Rassie Erasmus has bought himself another few days before committing.
Rassie Erasmus, Springbok head coach:
“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.”
If Kolisi trains through and takes the jersey, he joins Du Toit and Jasper Wiese in the loose trio, and the starting fifteen carries 1 012 Test caps — the most experienced side South Africa has ever sent onto a field. If he doesn’t, De Villiers wins his fifth cap in a Test the Boks have to win.
“The world’s gone berserk after the previous weekend, but Rassie and these South African men know how to dig themselves out of the hole. They’ve been here before.” – 🎙️Jay
The two niggles reshaped the back three. Cheslin Kolbe and Grant Williams are out, so Ethan Hooker comes onto the left wing and Kurt-Lee Arendse switches across to the right, with Damian Willemse behind them at fullback. Hooker has ten caps and gets his first look at the All Blacks in a Test week that has stopped being about experimentation.
The halfbacks are the bigger call, and it reads like a correction. Handre Pollard and Cobus Reinach start together, pushing Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu to the bench and bringing Morne van den Berg into the 23.
Rassie Erasmus, Springbok head coach:
“Handre has delivered for us under extreme pressure, and we feel that what he and Cobus have the potential to bring at the beginning of the game, and then have Morne and Sacha come on later with their different styles of play will be good for us this weekend.”
“Handre Pollard is a sure bet to start against the All Blacks at all times. His maturity and ice-filled veins are what you need to command this team.” – 🎙️Jay
The bench turns over almost entirely from Johannesburg. Deon Fourie comes in at hooker alongside Gerhard Steenekamp and Thomas du Toit, with Lood de Jager and Cameron Hanekom joining Andre Esterhuizen in the forward cover.
Fourie is the name to sit with. He has not worn the jersey since the 2023 World Cup final in Paris — a match against these same opponents, settled 12-11. Every other player in the matchday squad featured in the last two Tests, against Argentina and at Ellis Park.
That continuity is the point. This is not a side being rebuilt after one defeat — it is the same group, rearranged, with the men who have already absorbed two Test matches in three weeks trusted to absorb a third.
Rassie Erasmus, Springbok head coach:
“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.”
What went wrong in Johannesburg was not selection alone. Erasmus was blunt about it.
Rassie Erasmus, Springbok head coach:
“There were a handful of positives and negatives last week, but the main thing that let us down was that we created so many chances, but mistakes at crucial times cost us. We’ll put in a lot of work this week to ensure that we are sharp in that regard this weekend because if we had used even some of those chances, the result could have been completely different.”
Rassie Erasmus, Springbok head coach:
“One could see the hurt on everyone’s faces after Saturday’s match, and we know what we have to do to bounce back strongly this week. While we are fully aware of the challenging task ahead, we have regrouped and identified the areas of our game we need to fix, so we are ready and excited for the match in Cape Town.”
The match is live on SuperSport.
📸 Images via Springboks / SA Rugby
