Rassie Erasmus has named his team to face Australia in Saturday’s must-win rematch in Cape Town, featuring no less than 10 changes to the starting line-up.
The Boks head to the DHL Stadium still smarting after Saturday’s chastening defeat at Ellis Park, and Erasmus has made wholesale changes in response to that shock result – although injuries have forced his hand in several positions, leaving key players unavailable for selection.
Jesse Kriel leads the side for the second time in the absence of injured captain Siya Kolisi, while Bok stalwarts Cheslin Kolbe and Damian de Allende make welcome returns from injury.
Bok centurion Willie le Roux is also back in the side, slotting in at fullback, as is fellow World Cup winner Handre Pollard, who takes over at flyhalf. Canan Moodie is promoted from the bench to take his place on the wing.
The only players who will start against Australia for the second week in a row are Kriel, Ox Nche, Malcolm Marx, Marco van Staden and Grant Williams.
Four players from last week were ruled out of contention for selection due to injury, namely Kolisi, Pieter-Steph du Toit, and wings Kurt-Lee Arendse and Edwill van der Merwe.
The only change to Erasmus’ front row was the inclusion of prop Thomas du Toit, who will pack down alongside Nche and Marx, while the Bok coach named a new lock pairing of RG Snyman and Ruan Nortje. Van Staden, meanwhile, will form a new loose trio with Franco Mostert and Jean-Luc du Preez.
Erasmus named six forwards and two backs on the replacements bench, where Marnus van der Merwe, Boan Venter, and Wilco Louw will serve as the replacement front row, along with the experienced trio of Eben Etzebeth, Lood de Jager, and Kwagga Smith.
The two backline players on the bench are the versatile Cobus Reinach and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
“We lost four players to injury last weekend, which obviously had an impact on a few of our selections, but we also know where we went wrong against Australia last week, so we made a few changes that we believe will offer us what we need for this game,” said Erasmus.
“Damian and Cheslin have also recovered from their injuries, and with their experience and knowledge of the Wallabies, it was a logical choice to recall them.”
Erasmus added: “We are determined to get things right this week. Boan got a taste of what it’s like to face Australia last week, and Ruan did well against them last year, while it will be good for a few other guys to experience playing against one of the top teams in the world, especially as we continue to build our squad depth.
“We are pleased with this squad, and we are all aligned on what we have to do to lift our standards this week.
“There’s no doubt they’ll take a lot of confidence from their victory last week, and especially since that marked their first victory at Ellis Park against us in the professional era.
“We are still hurting from that result, and the coaches and players are extremely disappointed with the way we played last week. We know we didn’t play according to our standards in the second half, and we must rectify that.
“We let ourselves and the country down, so we have all the motivation we need to make things right this week.”
Springboks – 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Cheslin Kolbe, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Jean-Luc du Preez, 7 Franco Mostert, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 RG Snyman, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche.
Replacements: 16 Marnus van der Merwe, 17 Boan Venter, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Eben Etzebeth, 20 Lood de Jager, 21 Kwagga Smith, 22 Cobus Reinach, 23 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
