The front row players – comprising Steven Kitshoff, Bongi Mbonambi and Frans Malherbe – will retain their places from last week’s 43-12 win against Australia.
Springbok’s lock Eben Etzebeth stands before the start of the Rugby Championship match between South Africa and New Zealand at the Loftus Versfeld stadium in Pretoria, South Africa, on 6 October 2018. Picture: AFP.
JOHANNESBURG – Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber has made 10 changes to his starting team to face New Zealand this weekend in the Rugby Championship.
Lock Eben Etzebeth returns from a shoulder injury to captain the side for the first time since 2019, in what is the most notable change. The front row players – comprising Steven Kitshoff, Bongi Mbonambi and Frans Malherbe – will retain their places from last week’s 43-12 win against Australia, and so will centre Lukhanyo Am and fullback Willie Le Roux.
“Eben has been working very hard in the last few months to make a full recovery from his shoulder injury and it’s great to see him return to the field in this important fixture. He’s a vastly experienced player with 110 Test caps, he’s captained the Springboks before and he has been with the group of players in New Zealand for over a week, so he is the ideal person to lead the team this weekend,” said Nienaber
The mercurial Damian Willemse will start at fly-half in place of Manie Libbok, who reverts to the bench after an impressive display against the Wallabies. Experienced scrumhalf Faf de Klerk will be deployed in his play-maker role with the World Cup winning midfield combination of Damian de Allende and Am being reunited with Makazole Mapimipi and Cheslin Kolbe on the wings.
“We need to deliver a strong performance in all departments and our defence needs to be solid against them. This is an important match for both teams with each team only playing three games in the competition this season,” said Nienaber
Up front, Kwagga Smith, Franco Mostert and Jasper Wiese form the loose trio with Etzebeth and Lood de Jager starting in the second row.
Nienaber opted for his favoured 6-2 split on the bench, once again, including the imposing Duane Vermeulen, RG Snyman and 2019 World Player of the Year Pieter-Steph du Toit. Malcolm Marx is the only substitute who didn’t feature at Loftus Versfeld and Libbok and Grant Williams provide cover amongst the backs.
“The fact that we can give a few other players in the bigger squad a run this weekend is fantastic as we want to give as many players as possible game time with an eye on doing well in the Rugby Championship and further ahead in the Rugby World Cup,” Nienaber said
Kick off on Saturday is at 9:05 am.
Springbok team to face New Zealand:
15 – Willie le Roux 14 – Cheslin Kolbe
13 – Lukhanyo Am
12 – Damian de Allende
11 – Makazole Mapimpi
10 – Damian Willemse
9 – Faf de Klerk
8 – Jasper Wiese
7 – Franco Mostert
6 – Kwagga Smith
5 – Lood de Jager
4 – Eben Etzebeth (captain)
3 – Frans Malherbe
2 – Bongi Mbonambi
1 – Steven Kitshoff
Replacements:
16 – Malcolm Marx
17 – Thomas du Toit
18 – Vincent Koch
19 – RG Snyman
20 – Pieter-Steph du Toit
21 – Duane Vermeulen
22 – Grant Williams
23 – Manie Libbok
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