Libbok At Pivot For Boks In Rugby Championship Opener

Libbok will form an exciting halfback combination with Grant Williams in a backline that includes Andre Esterhuizen and is sans Cheslin Kolbe.

Esterhuizen partners Jesse Kriel in the midfield with Damian de Allende struggling with a back niggle, while the Bok management team is exercising caution when it comes to Kolbe and has backed Edwill van der Merwe to start along with Kurt-Lee Arendse and Aphelele Fassi in the back three.

Siya Kolisi will captain the team and will don the No. 8 jersey for the first time in a Test. He’ll be joined in the back row by Marco van Staden and Pieter-Steph du Toit. Eben Etzebeth and Lood de Jager will lock the scrum behind the formidable front row of Ox Nche, Malcolm Marx and Wilco Louw.

Rassie Erasmus has gone with a traditional bench of five forwards and three backs. Bongi Mbonambi, Jan-Hendrik Wessels and Asenathi Ntlabakanye are the back-up front rankers, Franco Mostert and Kwagga Smith serve as utility forwards, with Cobus Reinach, Canan Moodie, and Damian Willemse providing backline cover.  

The strong line-up features 18 Rugby World Cup winners and only three players with five Test caps or fewer in Wessels, Ntlabakanye and Van der Merwe. The Boks will be looking for their fifth successive victory over the Wallabies after defeating them in both Rugby Championship games in Australia last season and once each in 2023 and 2022.

Fast facts:

• Should the Springboks win, it will be the first time they have won five successive Tests against the Wallabies in more than half a century (they won seven matches in a row against Australia between 1969 and 1971).
• Eben Etzebeth will extend his record as the most capped Springbok of all time to 134 Test matches when he takes the field. He will also move past Conor Murray as the 11th most capped men’s player in rugby history, which will see him level with Gethin Jenkins in joint-10th place on the list.
• Springbok captain Siya Kolisi’s starting berth will see him strike 94 Test caps, meaning he will only require six more Test appearances to become the ninth player in South African rugby history to earn 100 Test caps.
• A victory for the Springboks will see them extend their unbeaten run against the Wallabies at Ellis Park to seven matches. They have never lost a match against Australia at the iconic stadium.
• The Boks have won six of their last 10 matches against the Wallabies – a track record they will be determined to improve on this weekend. Their last defeat against the Wallabies was in Adelaide in 2022.
• The total Test caps for the Springbok starting line-up are 725.
• There are 180 caps in the backline, with 545 caps amongst the forwards. On the bench, there are a further 312 caps.
• The average caps per player in the backline are 26, the forwards 68, while the players on the bench average 39.

South Africa: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Siya Kolisi (captain), 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit , 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche.

Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 18 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 19 Franco Mostert, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Canan Moodie, 23 Damian Willemse.