Springboks skipper Siya Kolisi on Thursday was passed fit to take his place at flank in the starting team to face the All Blacks, in their Rugby Championship clash in Cape Town on Saturday.
Kolisi, who took a heavy blow to the cheek in last week’s clash, made it through all the training sessions this week, and has been cleared to play, which will see him start in a powerful loose trio with Jasper Wiese (No 8) and Pieter-Steph du Toit, who reverts from lock to flanker.
Meanwhile Canan Moodie (wing) and Jaden Hendrikse (scrumhalf) make their first appearances in the Springbok jersey since the 2023 Rugby World Cup (RWC), while double RWC winners Willie le Roux (fullback) and Lukhanyo Am (utility back) also return to the match-23.
Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus recalled the quartet to the side, which shows seven changes, two of which are positional, to the starting XV which defeated the All Blacks, 31-27, at Ellis Park in Johannesburg over the weekend.
The Cape Town Stadium looks in really good shape ahead of the Springboks’ Rugby Championship Test against the All Blacks.@IOLsport @IOL pic.twitter.com/yvvYzRmtEG
— IG: johngoliath (@JohnGoliath82) September 4, 2024
Grant Williams starts
Grant Williams (scrumhalf) earns his first start of the season in partnership with Handre Pollard (flyhalf) who is promoted from the bench along with Eben Etzebeth (lock), while Le Roux and Moodie come straight into the XV.
Etzebeth will pair up with the hard-working Ruan Nortje in the engine room, while Du Toit’s inclusion in the loose trio and Le Roux as the last line of defence sees Ben-Jason Dixon and Aphelele Fassi sit out of this week’s encounter, along with scrumhalf Cobus Reinach.
Moodie fills the void left by Kurt-Lee Arendse, who has been ruled out of the match due to concussion, with his inclusion seeing Kolbe move from the right to left wing.
The Boks have reverted to a traditional five-three split on the bench with Am joining Hendrikse and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (utility back) among the back replacements.
Erasmus warned that he was expecting New Zealand to raise their game to greater heights than last week’s nail-biter.
“This match is going to massive,” said Erasmus.
“New Zealand are a world class outfit and we know that they’ll be desperate to bounce back after leading in the second half last week.
“They’ll also be fully aware of the fact that a victory could give them a huge boost on the Castle Lager Rugby Championship standings, and they’ll be playing to retain the Freedom Cup, which they’ve held since 2010. It’s going to be another epic encounter.
“They’re a quality team with a lot of pace and several players who have a great X-factor. We also saw last week what they can do if they get a strong start, while they have proven time and time again that they are a team that can close out games under a lot of pressure in the last 20 minutes, so it’s going to take a huge team effort to register a victory against them.”
.@Springboks captain Siya Kolisi has arrived at training at the majestic Cape Town Stadium@CapeTimesSA @TheCapeArgus #Springboks #RSAvNZL ##RugbyChampionship pic.twitter.com/UE8mtOO79e
— Ashfak Mohamed (@ashfakmohamed) September 4, 2024
Immense value
Erasmus was delighted to have Kolisi in his starting team and said: “Siya is a world-class player and captain, and he adds immense value to the team with the way he leads by example and galvanises the team when the pressure is on.
“Similarly to the call we made with Eben last week, our team policy is that if a player trains on a Monday and gets through training during the week pain free, they can be selected for the weekend, and Siya did just that.
“Honesty from the players about whether they can play and deliver fully on what we expect from them is a key part of our team culture, so have full faith in Siya to give everything on the field.”
Etzebeth will close in on Victor Matfield’s record as the most capped Springbok (127 caps) as he plays his 126thTest, while Le Roux’s start will nudge him to only three Tests away from joining the select group of Springbok centurions.
Meanwhile the Boks released three players, Steven Kitshoff (prop), Ben-Jason Dixon (flanker) and Makazole Mapimpi (winger), to their provincial unions for more game time in the Currie Cup as they continue to ensure that the players remain match-fit in the team’s title quest.
Springbok team: 15Willie le Roux, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Cheslin Kolbe, 10 – Handre Pollard, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche.
Replacements: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Kwagga Smith, 20 – Elrigh Louw, 21 Jaden Hendrikse, 22 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 23 Lukhanyo Am.
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