Rassie Unleashes ‘Nuke Squad’ On Wales

Cobus Reinach, who will earn his 50th cap when he takes the field, is the only specialist back on the loaded bench.

Siya Kolisi will captain the team and is one of seven players who’ve retained their places in the starting line-up after last weekend’s 23-14 win over Ireland in Dublin. The others are Ruan Nortje, Jasper Wiese, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Canan Moodie, Damian de Allende, and Damian Willemse.

The Bulls trio of Gerhard Steenekamp, Johan Grobbelaar and Wilco Louw will start a Test for the first time, with Jean Kleyn joining Nortje in the engine room, while the loose trio of Kolisi, Franco Mostert, and Wiese complete a powerful forward pack.

Morne van den Berg starts at scrumhalf with Feinberg-Mngomezulu at flyhalf. Hybrid Andre Esterhuizen will man the midfield with De Allende, Moodie and Ethan Hooker will start on the wings, and Willemse retains the No. 15 jersey.

Veteran hooker Bongi Mbonambi is back on the bench, along with props Zachary Porthen and Asenathi Ntlabakanye, lock Eben Etzebeth, utility forwards Marco van Staden, Ben-Jason Dixon, and Kwagga Smith, and backline player Reinach.

The changes were brought about due to the match falling outside of the international window. Erasmus commented, “We knew from the outset that we would lose players for this match due to their club commitments, and we are pleased with the quality of the team we’ve selected.

“We’ve been rotating our players throughout the year, and this group has been together for close to five weeks, so many of these combinations are fully settled, while others, such as Zachary and Asenathi, have shown what they are capable of this season, and we are excited that they will receive another chance to play.

“I’d like to thank the provincial unions and clubs who released these players to represent the country this weekend, so we could field a strong side capable of finishing off our November tour on a high note.”

Erasmus added: “We’ve used a total of 49 players in Test matches this season, which is a testament to the depth we have been developing with an eye on the 2027 Rugby World Cup.”

Commenting on the decision to opt for a seven-one split on the bench for the match, Erasmus said: “The composition of the bench was a combination of the availability of players we had for this match, but also given how well our pack has performed this season, and we believe it will be a key area of the match on Saturday.”

Fast facts:

• Cobus Reinach will become the second player on the team’s November tour to strike 50 Test caps, following RG Snyman’s 50th against Ireland last week.
• Reinach requires only five more Test points to reach 100 in the green and gold.
• Eben Etzebeth will extend his Springbok record as the most capped player to 141 caps if he takes the field off the replacements bench.
• This will mark Damian Willemse’s 49th Test match, leaving him only one game short of joining the select group of players to earn 50 Test caps, while Damian de Allende will require only two more Test appearances after this weekend to join the exclusive group of players to reach the 100 Test mark.
• The Springboks have lost only five of their 24 matches away from home against Wales dating back to 1994, with their last defeat in Cardiff being in 2018.
• This match will mark the first time the Springboks face Wales since the 2024 November tour – a match South Africa won 45-12.
• Should the Springboks win the match, it will mark the second season in a row that they complete a clean sweep of victories on their traditional end-of-the-year tour.
• The most Test matches the Springboks have won in a season is 14, meaning a victory this weekend will see them register 12 victories in 14 Tests – the second highest number of Tests won in a season.
• The total Test caps for the Springbok starting line-up is 525.
• There are 223 caps in the backline, with 302 caps among the forwards. On the bench, there are a further 374 caps.
• The average caps per player in the backline is 32, the forwards 38, while the players on the bench average 47.

South Africa: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Ethan Hooker, 13 Damian de Allende, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Canan Moodie, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Franco Mostert, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Gerhard Steenekamp.

Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Zachary Porthen, 18 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 19 Eben Etzebeth, 20 Marco van Staden, 21 Ben-Jason Dixon, 22 Kwagga Smith, 23 Cobus Reinach.