Springbok head coach Rassie Erasmus has made ten changes to his team that defeated the Wallabies 33 – 7 in Brisbane for their upcoming match in Perth.
Naming a new look side that includes scrumhalf Morne van den Berg and secondrow Ruan Nortje in the starting line-up for the first time, the Bok boss has infused his team with a sprinkling of veteran players.
Retaining their places from last weekend are Cheslin Kolbe (wing), Jesse Kriel (centre), Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (flyhalf), Elrigh Louw (No 8) and Pieter-Steph du Toit, who moves from lock to flanker).
One other notable change is the elevation of backrow Marco van Staden to the starting line-up in place of captain Siya Kolisi who rotates out of the squad entirely.
With Kolisi out of the line-up, secondrow Salmaan Moerat will captain the side for the second time.
Discussing his selections, Erasmus said, “We made it clear from the outset this season that one of our main goals is to build squad depth with an eye on the next Rugby World Cup here in Australia, and we feel there is no better way to test some of the younger players and assess where we are as a group against a top-Tier nation, especially away from home, in this match.
“We have a group of about 45 players that are part of our wider squad this season and we’ve seen what most of these players can do. We have full faith in the younger generation of players coming through, and we feel this is the right time to Test them against an Australian outfit that will be desperate to bounce back strongly from last weekend.”
Interestingly the Bok coaches have placed flyhalves Manie Libbok and Handre Pollard on the bench with a 5/3 split. This selection would indicate that either one or both of these players could play outside of their preferred position in what is an interesting look to the future for the team.
For the Boks, whilst on paper the match would appear to be on they can experiment with, there is some history on the line. Should they win, it will be the first time they have won four successive tests against the Wallabies in more than half a century (they won seven matches in a row against Australia between 1969 and 1971).
The match will take place this Saturday at 17:55 local time (9.55 GMT)
Springbok team to face Australia in Perth:
15 – Aphelele Fassi (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 5 caps, 10 points (2t)
14 – Cheslin Kolbe (Suntory Sungoliath) – 34 caps, 96 points (15t, 3c, 5p)
13 – Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles) – 72 caps, 80 points (16t)
12 – Lukhanyo Am (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 36 caps, 35 pts (7t)
11 – Makazole Mapimpi (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 43 caps, 150 points (30t)
10 – Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (DHL Stormers) – 5 caps, 25 points (11c, 1p)
9 – Morne van den Berg (Emirates Lions) – 1 cap, O points
8 – Elrigh Louw (Vodacom Bulls) – 5 caps, 0 points
7 – Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz) – 80 caps, 45 points (9t)
6 – Marco van Staden (Vodacom Bulls) – 21 caps, 0 pts
5 – Ruan Nortje (Vodacom Bulls) – 1 cap, 0 points
4 – Salmaan Moerat (captain, DHL Stormers) – 8 caps, 0 points
3 – Thomas du Toit (Bath) – 19 caps, 0 pts
2 – Johan Grobbelaar (Vodacom Bulls) – 1 cap, 0 points
1 – Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Vodacom Bulls) – 1 cap, 5 points (1t)
Replacements:
16 – Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) – 68 caps, 85 points (17t)
17 – Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 32 caps, 0 pts
18 – Vincent Koch (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 53 caps, 0 points
19 – Eben Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 123 caps, 30 points (6t)
20 – Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs) – 44 caps, 40 pts (8t)
21 – Grant Williams (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 12 caps, 10 points (2t)
22 – Manie Libbok (DHL Stormers) – 15 caps, 91 pts (1t, 28c, 10p)
23 – Handré Pollard (Leicester Tigers) – 72 caps, 732 points (7t, 98c, 162p, 5dg)
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