Aphelele Fassi has retained his place at fullback for the Springboks, while Jasper Wiese is set to make his first appearance of the season as Rassie Erasmus rang the changes for the clash with the All Blacks at Ellis Park on Saturday.
Erasmus made nine changes to the team that defeated the Wallabies in Perth (30-12), recalling Wiese from suspension and pairing Pieter-Steph du Toit and Ruan Nortje in the second row as a result of injuries to six other locks for the first of two Tests against the All Blacks in South Africa.
However, there are only three changes to the match day squad that opened the series with a 33-7 victory in Brisbane – and two of those forced by injuries to locks.
Eben Etzebeth (back) and Salmaan Moerat (concussion) miss out from the Brisbane combination. The other locks unavailable for selection are RG Snyman (foot), Franco Mostert (broken leg), Lood de Jager (shoulder) and Jean Kleyn (eye and knee).
Fassi retains the No 15 jersey, with Willie le Roux out of the matchday-23 entirely.
The pack shows six changes to the starting line-up that appeared in Perth with a new front row of Ox Nche (promoted from the bench in Perth) and the recall of the rested Frans Malherbe and hooker Bongi Mbonambi.
Pieter-Steph du Toit moves from the side of the scrum to partner Nortje while Wiese is joined in the back row by Bok captain Siya Kolisi and Ben-Jason Dixon, who has recovered from the knee injury that ruled him out of the Perth Test.
In the backline, Cobus Reinach and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu reunite at halfback, while Erasmus recalled Damian de Allende to partner Jesse Kriel at centre, with Kurt-Lee Arendse also back in the team, linking up with Cheslin Kolbe and Fassi in the back three.
Erasmus’ bench – which features a split of six forwards and two backs – will see Malcolm Marx, Gerhard Steenekamp and Vincent Koch in the replacement front row, while Elrigh Louw, Marco van Staden and the energetic Kwagga Smith will offer the team solid loose forward cover options.
The two backline players on the bench are Grant Williams and Handre Pollard, who offer an array of options, covering scrumhalf, wing, centre and flyhalf between them.
The squad features 12 players who appeared in the Rugby World Cup final against New Zealand at the Stade de France in Paris in October, as Erasmus’ balanced building squad depth while maintaining some consistency in selection. They are Kolisi, Nche, Mbonambi, Malherbe, Du Toit, Wiese, Arendse, De Allende, Kriel, Kolbe, Smith, and Pollard.
Wiese was deemed match ready, having been training with the team since the beginning of June at the first training camp in Pretoria, while Erasmus opted to give Steven Kitshoff (prop), Canan Moodie (wing), Jaden Hendrikse (scrumhalf) and Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg (lock) more time to adjust to the new structures.
Springboks – 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche.
Subs: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Marco van Staden, 20 Elrigh Louw, 21 Kwagga Smith, 22 Grant Williams, 23 Handre Pollard.
Photo: Will Russell/Getty Images
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Src: sarugbymag.co.za
