South Africa’s director of rugby Rassie Erasmus has almost completely changed his starting XV from last weekend for this Saturday’s clash with the All Blacks.
Following the Springboks 35-17 victory over the Wallabies last weekend, many wondered if some players had earned their way into the squad for this weekend, however, Erasmus has stuck with his big guns.
Duane Vermeulen will captain the side from No 8 despite last Saturday’s captain Eben Etzebeth keeping his place in the team.
Pieter-Steph du Toit and Makazole Mapimpi are the only other players to retain their places in the starting XV with the rest of the team consisting of players that were sent over to New Zealand last Thursday to prepare for this game.
The front-row is made up of Steven Kitshoff, Malcolm Marx and Frans Mahlerbe, with Eztebeth being paired with Franco Mostert in the engine-room.
Kwagga Smith joins du Toit and Vermeulen in the back-row, while Faf de Klerk starts at scrum-half, despite Herschel Jantjies man of the match performance last time out, and partners Handre Pollard in the half-backs.
Damian de Allende and Lukhanyo Am team-up in the centre with Mapimpi on the left-wing, Cheslin Kolbe on the right and Willie le Roux completing the line-up at full-back.
There is plenty of experience on the bench to call upon with the likes of Francois Louw and Jesse Kriel among the replacements.
Speaking ahead of the game Erasmus paid respect to the All Blacks and is expecting a tough outing.
“We have the outmost respect for the All Blacks who are the undisputed number one rugby team in the world. We know we will have to be at our very best to be competitive against the All Blacks on Saturday and that is why we have sent a group of players in advance to Wellington, so they could acclimatise after the long trip over from South Africa,” he said.
He went on to talk about the challenge his side will face as the New Zealanders bring back their rested Crusaders stars.
“The New Zealanders are a very experienced and settled side while we have some catching up to do in terms of where the two sides are at the moment. They are bringing back their Crusaders players, who were all rested after the Vodacom Super Rugby final, so we are in for a huge battle against the best team in the world,” he added.
He also explained the decision behind picking Vermeulen as captain is to allow other people to put their hand up for the captain’s armband with regular captain Siya Kolisi still out injured.
“It is important that we continue to build on our leadership for this important year, especially while our regular skipper, Siya Kolisi, is out of action because of injury rehabilitation. Duane is an experienced captain and we have a strong group of leaders in the team, which includes Eben Etzebeth and Pieter-Steph du Toit, who have both captained the Springboks before, as well as a number of other franchise captains,” he finished.
South Africa will be looking to emulate their efforts of last year’s visit to New Zealand when they ran out 36-34 winners in a pulsating match against the All Blacks.
Check Out the Full 23-Man Squad Below.
15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13
Lukhanyo Am, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Handre Pollard, 9
Faf de Klerk, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Kwagga Smith, 5
Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Eztebeth, 3 Frans Mahlerbe, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Steven
Kitshoff.
Reserves: 16
Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Tendai Mtawarira, 18 Trevor Nyakane, 19 RG Snyman, 20
Francois Louw, 21 Herschel Jantjies, 22 Frans Steyn, 23 Jesse Kriel.
