Three Newcomers in Bok Side As Le Roux Reaches Magical Milestone

The 35-year-old, who made his Test debut against the Azzurri in 2013, will join Percy Montgomery, Victor Matfield, John Smit, Bryan Habana, Jean de Villiers, Tendai Mtawarira and Eben Etzebeth in the exclusive club.

Salmaan Moerat will captain a new-look team that features three uncapped players on the bench in Asenathi Ntlabakanye, who featured in the Boks’ 54-7 victory against the Barbarians two weekends ago, Cobus Wiese – brother of No. 8 Jasper Wiese – and Ethan Hooker.

Only seven players who were in the side who defeated Italy 42-24 in Pretoria last weekend have been retained in the matchday 23. They are Le Roux, Wilco Louw, Malcolm Marx, Marco van Staden, Jasper Wiese (all of whom have been named in the starting XV), Ox Nche and Jan-Hendrik Wessels (who have been named on the replacements bench).

The man of the moment, Le Roux, will be joined by Edwill van der Merwe and Makazole Mapimpi in the back three, Andre Esterhuizen and Canan Moodie make up the midfield combination and Manie Libbok joins forces with Grant Williams at halfback.

Jasper Wiese and Van Staden form a loose trio combination with Pieter-Steph du Toit, while Ruan Nortje and Moerat – who last captained the Boks in their 2024 Rugby Championship match against the Pumas in Argentina – make up the second row, and Thomas du Toit will pack down with Louw and Marx in the front row.

Rassie Erasmus has named five forwards and three backs on the bench, with Wessels joining fellow front-rowers, Nche and Ntlabakanye, along with the versatile Cobus Wiese and Evan Roos, while Cobus Reinach, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Hooker will provide backline cover.

Du Toit, Nortje, Williams, Mapimpi, and Roos will all make welcome returns from injuries which ruled them out of action at some stage since last season, while it will also mark a significant occasion for Van der Merwe, who scored a try in his first and only Test cap to date, against Wales in London in the opening game of the 2024 season.

Fast facts:

• Willie le Roux will become only the eighth player in history to play 100 Tests for South Africa, following in the footsteps of Eben Etzebeth, Victor Matfield, Bryan Habana, Tendai Mtawarira, John Smit, Jean de Villiers, and Percy Montgomery.
• Le Roux made his debut against Italy on 8 June 2013 and will celebrate his 100th Test cap against the same opponents 12 years later.
• Makazole Mapimpi will play his 47th Test match on Saturday, and requires only three more Test caps to join the elite group of players who have played 50 Tests.
• Manie Libbok requires only two more points to score 100 Test points in the green and gold. He is currently on 98 points.
• The Springboks have faced Italy 17 times and won 16 of those matches. Their only defeat was in Florence in 2016, where Italy pipped the Boks by 20-18.
• The Wiese brothers (Cobus and Jasper) will become the 37th set of brothers to play for the Springboks.
• The total Test caps for the Springbok starting line-up is 493.
• There are 213 caps in the backline, with 280 caps among the forwards. On the bench, there are a further 98 caps.
• The average caps per player in the backline is 30, the forwards 35, while the players on the bench average 12.

Springboks: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Salmaan Moerat (c), 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Thomas du Toit.

Replacements: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Ox Nche, 18 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 19 Cobus Wiese, 20 Evan Roos, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 23 Ethan Hooker.