![\"Ethan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/250908-ethan-hooker-springboks-training.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe fourth-round Castle Lager Rugby Championship encounter at Sky Stadium will decide which team claims the Freedom Cup.<\/p>\n
Erasmus made seven personnel changes to his starting XV, with 16 players in the match-23 retained from the side that went down 24-17 against the All Blacks in Auckland last week.<\/p>\n
The Bok coach tinkered with his backline, with Cobus Reinach and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu pairing up at halfback, Damian Willemse and Canan Moodie in the midfield, Hooker and Cheslin Kolbe on the wings, and Aphelele Fassi at fullback, in a team that will be led by regular captain Siya Kolisi.<\/p>\n
Up front, Kolisi returns to flanker along with Pieter-Steph du Toit, while No 8 Jasper Wiese will return to the field for the first time since facing Italy in the Castle Lager Incoming Series after serving his four-match suspension.<\/p>\n
The only change in the pack was at lock, where Lood de Jager will pack down next to Ruan Nortje, while Erasmus stuck with the same front row of props Ox Nche and Thomas du Toit, and hooker Malcolm Marx.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Ethan Hooker.<\/p>\n
Erasmus again opted for a split of five forwards and three backs on the replacements\u2019 bench, where Marnus van der Merwe (hooker), Jan-Hendrik Wessels and Wilco Louw (props), RG Snyman (lock) and Kwagga Smith (loose forward) will provide further forward cover. The backs on the bench are halfbacks Grant Williams, Manie Libbok, and centre Andre Esterhuizen.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is an exciting team, which we believe will provide us with the forward power we require, and spark in the backline against a quality All Blacks side,\u201d said Erasmus.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve maintained consistency in selection to a large degree in the last few matches, but apart from what we feel some of the players selected can add to our attack, we\u2019d like to see what some of the players can do against the top-ranked team in the world.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a vital match for our Castle Lager Rugby Championship campaign, and we feel some fresh legs and energy are what we need to come away with the desired result.\u201d<\/p>\n
Erasmus added: \u201cEvery player in this squad knows we believe in them and back them, and this will serve as a great occasion for them to show us what they are capable of against a team such as the All Blacks.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have all done the job for us against some of the top teams in the world earlier this year, and others over the last few years, and we know they\u2019ll relish this opportunity to face New Zealand in their backyard.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Lood](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/250906-lood-de-jager-springboks.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Lood de Jager has been promoted to the starting lineup.<\/p>\n
The Bok coach said they are expecting another epic encounter against their arch rivals: \u201cBoth teams will be up for the challenge this week after having to cope with heavy rain at times in Auckland, and after the disappointing performance we delivered in the opening stages of that match, we know we need to be much more effective in all departments this week and produce a performance both us and our supporters can be proud of.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need a top-class performance to ensure that we are in contention to win the Castle Lager Rugby Championship.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know where we went wrong last week and what we must fix, and we\u2019ll leave no stone unturned to fix those errors. There\u2019s no doubt that we have to deliver a proper 80-minute performance to do well, and we will give everything to achieve that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The match kicks off at 09h05 (SA time) and will be broadcast live on SuperSport.<\/p>\n
Springbok team to face the All Blacks in Wellington:<\/p>\n
15 Aphelele Fassi (Hollywoodbets Sharks) \u2013 14 caps, 35 points (7t)
14 Cheslin Kolbe (Tokyo Sungoliath) \u2013 43 caps, 111 points (18t, 3c, 5p)
13 Canan Moodie (Vodacom Bulls) \u2013 17 caps, 40 pts (8t)
12 Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers) \u2013 42 caps, 61 points (5t, 9c, 4p, 2 dg)
11 Ethan Hooker (Hollywoodbets Sharks) \u2013 2 caps, 0 points
10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (DHL Stormers) \u2013 12 caps, 58 points (17c, 8p)
9 Cobus Reinach (DHL Stormers) \u2013 43 caps, 75 pts (15t)<\/p>\n
8 Jasper Wiese (Urayasu D-Rocks) \u2013 36 caps, 10 points (2t)
7 Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz) \u2013 90 caps, 60 pts (12t)
6 Siya Kolisi (captain, Hollywoodbets Sharks) \u2013 95 caps, 65 points (13t)
5 Ruan Nortje (Vodacom Bulls) \u2013 10 caps, 0 pts
4 Lood de Jager (Wild Knights) \u2013 70 caps, 25 points (5t)
3 Thomas du Toit (Bath) \u2013 27 caps, 5 pts (1t)
2 Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) \u2013 81 caps, 120 pts (24t)
1 Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks) \u2013 44 caps, 0 pts<\/p>\n
Replacements:<\/p>\n
16 Marnus van der Merwe (Scarlets) \u2013 2 caps, 10 points (2t)
17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Vodacom Bulls) \u2013 6 caps, 10 pts (2t)
18 Wilco Louw (Vodacom Bulls) \u2013 21 caps, 0 pts
19 RG Snyman (Leinster) \u2013 43 caps, 10 points (2t)
20 Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs) \u2013 56 caps, 50 points (10t)
21 Grant Williams (Hollywoodbets Sharks) \u2013 22 caps, 25 pts (5t)
22 Manie Libbok (Kintetsu Liners) \u2013 21 caps, 115 pts (1t, 37c, 12p)
23 Andre Esterhuizen (Hollywoodbets Sharks) \u2013 22 caps, 5 pts (1t)<\/p>\n
Stats and facts:<\/p>\n
Springbok record against New Zealand:
Played: 109, Won: 42, Lost: 63, Drawn: 4. Points for: 1 807; Points against: 2 259; Tries scored: 175; Tries conceded: 247. Win %: 38.6%.<\/p>\n
Miscellaneous:<\/p>\n
Should the Springboks win the match, they will retain the Freedom Cup against New Zealand, which they won for the first time last year since 2009.
\nThe last time the teams met at the Sky Stadium was in 2019, where they played to a 16-16 draw, with the Boks winning the previous encounter between the sides 36-34 at the stadium.
\nSpringbok flanker Siya Kolisi will play his 96th Test match, leaving him only four matches short of becoming the ninth Springbok centurion in the history of the game. He will lead South Africa for the 64th time.
\nJasper Wiese will return to the Springbok team for the first time since the team\u2019s 45-0 victory against Italy in Gqeberha after serving a four-match suspension.
\nThe total Test caps in the Springbok starting line-up is 626. There are 173 caps in the backline, with 453 caps among the forwards. On the bench, there are a further 193 caps.
\nThe average caps per player in the backline is 25, the forwards 57, while the players on the bench average 24.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The fourth-round Castle Lager Rugby Championship encounter at Sky Stadium will decide which team claims the Freedom Cup.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":127238,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-127237","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127237","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127237"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127237\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/127238"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127237"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127237"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127237"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}