For this Saturday’s Test against the All Blacks at Eden Park, Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has made only four changes to the starting team that beat the Wallabies in Cape Town.
Perhaps most interestingly, Jesse Kriel retains the captaincy even though Siya Kolisi has been cleared to start at No 8.
Commenting on the decision to hand the captaincy to Kriel rather than regular skipper Kolisi, Erasmus said: “Siya was touch and go for the match earlier in the week after picking up a niggle a few weeks ago, and we didn’t want to risk him unnecessarily, but with Jean-Luc du Preez having picked up a niggle at training this week, Siya was the obvious choice to slot in at No 8.
“At that stage, Jesse had already been told he would be the captain, and it was only fair for us to keep things that way. He’s a great leader and one of the core players in our team. His communication with the referee and his teammates is good, and he leads by example in the way he plays, so he deserves this opportunity.
“It will also be a big occasion for him to captain the team against the All Blacks for the first time, so we are proud of Jesse, and we know he’ll carry this responsibility with great pride.”
The match kicks off at 09h05 (SA time) and will be broadcast live on SuperSport.
Springbok team to face New Zealand at Eden Park:
15 Willie le Roux (Vodacom Bulls) – 100 caps, 75 pts (15t)
14 Cheslin Kolbe (Tokyo Sungoliath) – 42 caps, 111 points (18t, 3c, 5p)
13 Jesse Kriel (captain, Canon Eagles) – 82 caps, 95 points (19t)
12 Damian de Allende (Wild Knights) – 90 caps, 55 points (11t)
11 Canan Moodie (Vodacom Bulls) – 16 caps, 40 pts (8t)
10 Handre Pollard (Vodacom Bulls) – 83 caps, 812 points (8t, 122c, 171p, 5dg)
9 Grant Williams (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 21 caps, 25 pts (5t)
8 Siya Kolisi (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 94 caps, 65 points (13t)
7 Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz) – 89 caps, 60 pts (12t)
6 Marco van Staden (Vodacom Bulls) – 29 caps, 15 pts (3t)
5 Ruan Nortje (Vodacom Bulls) – 9 caps, 0 pts
4 Eben Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 135 caps, 35 points (7t)
3 Thomas du Toit (Bath) – 26 caps, 5 pts (1t)
2 Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) – 80 caps, 115 pts (23t)
1 Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 43 caps, 0 pts
Replacements:
16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Vodacom Bulls) – 5 caps, 10 pts (2t)
17 Boan Venter (Edinburgh) – 3 caps, 5 pts (1t)
18 Wilco Louw (Vodacom Bulls) – 20 caps, 0 pts
19 Lood de Jager (Wild Knights) – 69 caps, 25 points (5t)
20 Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs) – 55 caps, 50 points (10t)
21 Cobus Reinach (DHL Stormers) – 42 caps, 70 pts (14t)
22 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (DHL Stormers) – 11 caps, 54 points (15c, 8p)
23 Ethan Hooker (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 1 cap, 0 points
