Tshituka To Make Test Debut As Veterans Return For Boks

Tshituka scored two tries in the non-capped encounter against the Barbarians last weekend and will make his full-fledged Test debut in an experienced team captained by Jesse Kriel.

Thirteen players who featured in the 54-7 win over the famous invitational team in Cape Town have been retained, and with regular captain Siya Kolisi out after picking up a niggle last week, Kriel retains the captaincy, making him the 67th Bok captain. Eben Etzebeth, who is back from injury, will serve as vice-captain.

Veterans Damian Willemse and Faf de Klerk will make their long-awaited returns, Willemse in the No. 15 jersey and De Klerk on the replacements bench. Handre Pollard and Jasper Wiese add further experience to the run-on side.

Up front, Wilco Louw comes into the fray to form a formidable trio with Ox Nche and Malcolm Marx. Etzebeth takes over from the injured Jean Kleyn in the engine room where he’s joined by Lood de Jager, with Marco van Staden, Tshituka and Wiese joining forces in the back row.

Pollard and Willemse are the only new players in the backline, meaning Morne van den Berg will get another opportunity to prove his worth at scrumhalf.

Rassie Erasmus has opted for a split of six forwards and two backs on the replacements bench. Bongi Mbonambi, Jan-Hendrik Wessels and Vincent Koch are the back-up front row, with RG Snyman, Franco Mostert and Kwagga Smith set to add extra firepower.

The two backline replacements are De Klerk and Willie le Roux, who will earn his 99th Test cap if he takes the field, which would take him one Test closer to joining the exclusive club of Bok centurions.

Fast facts:

• The Boks have played Italy seven times in South Africa, but this will be the first Test between the sides at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria, where the hosts have a 78% win record (32 wins from 41 Tests).
• Eben Etzebeth will extend his record as the most-capped Springbok to 132 caps when he takes the field.
• Damian Willemse will play his first match for the Springboks since the 2023 Rugby World Cup final against New Zealand, which the Boks won 12-11.
• Should Willie le Roux take the field, it will mark his 99th Test match for the Springboks, putting him in line to become only the eighth Springbok centurion in history. He made his Test debut against Italy in Durban in 2013.
• The Springboks have faced Italy 16 times and won 15 of those matches. Their only defeat was in Florence in 2016 where Italy pipped the Boks by 20-18.
• In the 15 matches the Springboks have won against Italy, they only scored fewer than 30 points on three occasions.
• The total Test caps for the Springbok starting line-up is 738.
• There are 351 caps in the backline, with 377 caps among the forwards. On the bench, there are a further 466 caps.
• The average caps per player in the backline is 50, the forwards 47, while the players on the bench average 58.

Springboks:  15 Damian Willemse, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 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 Vincent Koch, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Franco Mostert, 21 Kwagga Smith, 22 Faf de Klerk, 23 Willie le Roux.