Springbok Watch: Players in the Spotlight v New Zealand in Wellington

Lood de Jager

With the Boks enduring their worst showing in the lineouts in recent memory in last weekend’s battle against New Zealand at Eden Park, De Jager emerged as Mr. Fix It when he came on in the 50th minute.

The veteran lineout general brought clarity and stability to the set piece after an opening period of confusion and chaos, and even nicked one on the All Blacks’ throw-in. The lineout is such a vital launching pad, and with De Jager back, the Boks should be able to use it as such.

Outstanding in general play as well, he’ll look to pick up where he left off. It is curious, though, that he’s coming in at No. 4 in place of Eben Etzebeth instead of replacing Ruan Nortje at No. 5.

Jasper Wiese

After just having trained with the squad for the last two months, Wiese has now served his four-match suspension for a head-butt on Italy’s Danilo Fischetti and will be let loose in Wellington.

Perhaps being kind to those who filled the void in Wiese’s absence, Rassie Erasmus disagreed that his team had been left in an eighthman crisis the last few weeks and welcomed back the big bruiser after Monday’s team announcement.

“Siya did a great job in the first game until he hurt his knee, and I thought he did a really, really good job again last weekend. Kwagga does well when he comes on and now having Jasper back is obviously a massive plus,” said the Bok coach.

“Jasper probably won’t go the full 80 but it’s great to have him back in the mix. He’s always been one of our standout players and in a big Test match like this, we’ll need him,” he added.

Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu

After the 24-17 loss at Eden Park, Erasmus produced a shock by naming a new-look backline for the rematch sans the experienced trio of Handre Pollard, Damian de Allende, and Jesse Kriel.

Instead, the Bok coach rolled the dice with Feinberg-Mngomezulu taking over at flyhalf and Damian Willemse and Canan Moodie joining forces in the midfield. Madness, or a masterstroke? We’ll find out on Saturday. What is clear is that Erasmus is relying heavily on Feinberg-Mngomezulu to get the Boks back on track.

The generational talent made a big impact off the bench last weekend and has done the business for the Boks at No. 10 against their arch-rivals before. It was last August when he cemented himself as a Test star with a sterling performance in the 31-27 win at Ellis Park, and he’s now being entrusted to do a similar job at Sky Stadium.

Based on the makeup of the Bok team, it looks like the 23-year-old will be given the freedom to play his natural game. Anxious Bok fans will be hoping that’ll be enough for their team to retain the Freedom Cup and keep their hopes of retaining their Rugby Championship title alive.

Boks Overhaul Backline For All Blacks Rematch  

Ethan Hooker

After winning his first two caps off the bench against Italy in Gqeberha and New Zealand at Eden Park, the highly gifted Hooker will make his first Test start in the No. 11 jersey on Saturday.

A bona fide blue-chipper, the 1.94m, 98kg utility back has size, power, and pace in abundance and could be the ace up Erasmus’ sleeve given his knack for delivering big plays at key moments.

Generally, he’s a hard grafter, a hard runner – both with ball in hand and when it comes to chasing kicks – and a hard tackler, and at just 22, he has composure well beyond his years, which will serve him and South Africa well in this crunch clash.    

Fresh off his first meeting against the All Blacks, he’s relishing getting stuck into the Kiwis at the Cake Tin, saying, “It was a very surreal experience for me just being at Eden Park, the vibe, the energy – it was all unbelievable and just a real privilege for me to say I’ve played a Test match there.

“We obviously try to win every game that we play and we’ve just got to take the learnings into this week and hopefully we can be better. The ultimate goal for us is to win the Rugby Championship, so we all need to get on the same page this week and grind it out and then hopefully we’ll be on top.”

Damian Willemse

The selection no one would’ve predicted is that of Willemse at inside centre. Sure, the multi-talented 27-year-old can play flyhalf, centre, and fullback, but in back-to-back World Cup wins and 42 Tests, he’s never started at No. 12 for the Boks.

Why now, with so much at stake and with Willemse having had precious little game time? It’s a baffling decision by the Bok boss, who’s relied on De Allende and Andre Esterhuizen as his deputy for the longest time.

Is this sudden switch a one-off or the start of a long-term plan? Either way, it leaves a cold Willemse in a tough spot having to go from 0 to 100 against the No. 1-ranked team in the world.

With his size and skill, there’s little doubt that he can play the part, it’s just a lot to ask of him, given the circumstances, and if he isn’t up to speed, he’ll be the one copping criticism from casual fans who are not aware or don’t care about the position he’s in.