Kolisi To Bring Up Bok Ton In Paris Blockbuster

Kolisi, who’s led South Africa to back-to-back Rugby World Cup titles, a British & Irish Lions Series win and successive Rugby Championship titles, will become the ninth Bok centurion and captains a team showing six personnel changes to the side that defeated Japan 61-7 last weekend.

Rassie Erasmus – who will guide the side in his 50th Test as head coach – has opted for Boan Venter to replace the injured Ox Nche at loosehead prop, while Thomas du Toit (tighthead prop), Eben Etzebeth (lock), Pieter-Steph du Toit (flanker) and Damian Willemse (utility back) all return to the starting line-up.

The only change amongst the replacements sees RG Snyman (lock) move from the starting team to the bench in place of Kwagga Smith (loose forward), who is carrying a niggle.

Venter, Malcolm Marx, and Du Toit form the front row, with Etzebeth joining Lood de Jager in the second row. The loose trio of Kolisi, Du Toit, and Jasper Wiese is the same that started in the Boks’ 30-26 defeat against France in Marseille in 2022.

Cobus Reinach and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu will continue their prolific partnership in the halves, as will Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel in the midfield, while Willemse starts at fullback in place of Cheslin Kolbe, who moves to his regular position at wing with Kurt-Lee Arendse.

The Bulls trio of Johan Grobbelaar, Gerhard Steenekamp, and Wilco Louw will serve as the back-up front row, along with locks Snyman and Ruan Nortje, with Andre Esterhuizen surprisingly being retained as a hybrid player. The two backline players on the bench are Grant Williams and Manie Libbok.

Eleven players in the team featured in the Boks’ 29-28 World Cup quarter-final victory over Les Bleus at the same venue two years ago, namely Etzebeth, Kolisi, Du Toit, Snyman, Reinach, Arendse, Kolbe, Kriel, De Allende, Willemse, and Libbok – while 12 players featured in the match in Marseille in 2022, which includes Marx, who was ruled out early in the 2023 World Cup campaign due to a knee injury.

“We always planned to make a few changes for this match, and we’ll continue to rotate the players throughout the tour, so we can give as many players as possible a chance while at the same time trying to achieve our objectives on the field,” said Erasmus.

“This, however, is the team we feel is best suited to what we expect from France, and the way we would like to play this weekend. Many of them have also faced France in 2022 and 2023, so they know what to expect from the hosts and have also had a taste of what it is to play in front of their passionate home crowd.”

Commenting on Kolisi playing in his 100th Test, Erasmus said: “This is a huge milestone for Siya and we are all delighted for him. He is a level-headed player and although this will be a big occasion for him, and a match that we would like to make special for him, he is fully focused on the task at hand, so he won’t allow that to overshadow what he must do on the field.

“This is a huge game, and the entire team knows how determined France will be to make up for the World Cup result, so we’ll celebrate Siya’s achievement after the match. That said, hopefully we can make it a memorable game for him.”

Fast facts:

• Siya Kolisi, who made his Test debut against Scotland in Nelspruit in 2013, will play his 100th Test match, making him only the ninth Springbok centurion in the history of the game. The last player to reach this significant feat was Willie le Roux against Italy in July.
• Erasmus will guide the team in his 50th Test as the Springbok head coach, with the former Springbok flanker’s win record currently standing at 73.4%.
• The last time the Springboks met France was in the 2023 Rugby World Cup quarter-final, where they registered a 29-28 victory, and went on to lift the trophy for the second time in a row.
• The entire Springbok backline, apart from Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, featured in the RWC quarter-final against France – either in the starting line-up or playing off the replacements bench.
• Eleven players in the matchday squad played in the RWC match against France, while 12 players were involved in the match-up between the teams in 2022.
• The Springboks have won the last four matches between the teams in Paris, dating back to 2013, with their highest winning margin in those encounters being by nine points. Les Bleus last won a match against the Boks in the French capital in 2005.
• The total Test caps in the Springbok starting line-up are 924. There are 362 caps in the backline, with 562 caps among the forwards. On the bench, there are a further 177 caps.
• The average caps per player in the backline is 52, the forwards 70, while the players on the bench average 22.

South Africa: 15 Damian Willemse, 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 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Boan Venter.

Replacements: 16 Johan Grobbelaar, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Ruan Nortje, 21 Andre Esterhuizen, 22 Grant Williams, 23 Manie Libbok.