Rassie Adds Seasoning To Boks For Rugby Championship Finale

Ox Nche replacing Boan Venter at loosehead prop is the only alteration to the team that started in last weekend’s 67-30 win over the Pumas in Durban. The rest of the changes are on the bench, once again made up of five forwards and three backs, with Bongi Mbonambi, Grant Williams and Jesse Kriel coming into the mix.  

The Springboks hold a one-point lead at the top of the standings over the second-placed All Blacks, who are on 14 points, while the Wallabies are in third place with 11 points and Argentina are at the bottom of the log with nine points.

“This match is a Final for us, and we know how dangerous Argentina can be, so we selected combinations we feel will be best suited for this game,” said coach Rassie Erasmus.

“There are minimal personnel changes, with the bulk of the team having done the job for us last week against the Pumas in Durban and our other Castle Lager Rugby Championship matches.

“Ox and Grant could have played last week if we really needed them, but Boan (Venter) and Morne (van den Berg) did really well, while Jesse was rotated in the last two matches and is raring to go. The same applies to Bongi, who last played against Australia, and who is excited for this opportunity.

“Their experience, combined with the younger players in the team, makes this an exciting squad, which is exactly what we need in a match that will essentially be the Castle Lager Rugby Championship decider.”

Erasmus said he expected a fiery response from the Pumas. “Last week they were in the running to win the title, and they’ll be determined to make up for that result, so we are expecting them to throw everything at us on Saturday.

“They may be out of the title race, but they have beaten the All Blacks, Wallabies, and British & Irish Lions this season, and it would be a big target for them to defeat us as well, so it’s going to be another hard grind.

“They have a powerful pack and hard-running backs, and they showed in the first half last week that if they stick to their structures and play well, they are a huge threat.

“That said, the focus for us is on what we have to do to try to win the competition twice in a row for the first time, so the stakes are high for us, and we know what we are capable of if we remain within our structures and play for the full 80 minutes.”

Erasmus added: “We’ll be in the fortunate position to know exactly what we need to do in the match to win the competition before we take the field as Australia and New Zealand face one another before our match, but we still need to go out there and deliver against a quality outfit.”

Fast facts:

• The Springboks have won 11 of their last 13 matches against the Pumas, dating back to 2018, with their only two defeats being in Argentina, in Santiago Del Estero (last season) and in Mendoza (in 2018).
• The teams have crossed paths in London only once before, in the bronze final of the 2015 Rugby World Cup, with the Boks winning the match 24-13 at the Olympic Stadium.
• Siya Kolisi will play his 98th Test match, leaving him only two games short of becoming the ninth Springbok centurion in the history of the game.
• Eben Etzebeth will extend his record as the most capped Springbok of all time to 138 Tests when he takes the field on Saturday.
• Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Jesse Kriel have both scored 95 Test points and require only five to make it to 100 in the green and gold.
• The total Test caps in the Springbok starting line-up are 797. There are 264 caps in the backline, with 533 caps among the forwards. On the bench, there are a further 343 caps.
• The average caps per player in the backline is 38, the forwards 67, while the players on the bench average 43.

South Africa: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Ethan Hooker, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche.

Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Grant Williams, 22 Manie Libbok, 23 Jesse Kriel.