South Africa has made 10 changes to their starting team for their second Rugby Championship match against Australia at the Cape Town Stadium.<\/p>\n
Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus named a team featuring 10 changes to the starting XV for their second Castle Lager Rugby Championship match against Australia in Cape Town on Saturday, with Jesse Kriel leading the side for the second time in a Test, with returns for Cheslin Kolbe, Damian de Allende, and Bok centurion Willie le Roux.
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\n\tPowerful prop Ox Nche will serve as Kriel\u2019s vice-captain for the first time in his international career, which dates back to 2018 when he made his Springbok debut against Wales in Washington DC.
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\n\tOnly five players in the starting-15 retained their places from the team\u2019s 38-22 defeat against the Wallabies in Johannesburg last week, while a total of 13 players were involved in the encounter at Ellis Park.
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\n\tThe five players who will start against Australia for the second week in a row are Nche, Malcolm Marx, Marco van Staden, Grant Williams, and Kriel \u2013 who takes over the captaincy from the injured Siya Kolisi \u2013 while Franco Mostert, Canan Moodie, Wilco Louw, Boan Venter, Eben Etzebeth, Lood de Jager, Kwagga Smith, and Cobus Reinach are the other players who will get another run against the visitors.
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\n\tFour players were ruled out of contention for selection due to injury, namely Kolisi (loose forward), Pieter-Steph du Toit (utility forward), and wings Kurt-Lee Arendse, Edwill van der Merwe.
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\n\tThe only change to Erasmus\u2019 front row was the inclusion of prop Thomas du Toit, who will pack down alongside Nche and Marx, while the Bok coach named a new lock pairing of RG Snyman and Ruan Nortje. Van Staden, meanwhile, will form a loose trio with Franco Mostert and Jean-Luc du Preez.
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\n\tThe backline, in turn, sees the experienced duo of Kriel and Damian de Allende reunite in the midfield for the 38th time, while Grant Williams and Handre Pollard will partner up at halfback, Kolbe and Moodie at wing, and Le Roux \u2013 who became only the eighth player in SA rugby history to earn 100 Test caps against Georgia last month \u2013 completing the backline at fullback.
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\n\tErasmus named six forwards and two backs on the replacements bench, where Marnus van der Merwe, Venter, and Louw will serve as the impact front row, along with the experienced trio of Etzebeth, De Jager, and Smith.
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\n\tThe two backline players on the bench are the versatile Reinach and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
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\n\tErasmus attributed the changes to injuries and strategic adjustments for the forthcoming challenge.
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\n\t\u201cWe lost four players to injury last weekend, which obviously had an impact on a few of our selections, but we also know where we went wrong against Australia last week, so we made a few changes that we believe will offer us what we need for this game,\u201d said Erasmus.
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\n\t\u201cDamian and Cheslin have also recovered from their injuries, and with their experience and knowledge of the Wallabies, it was a logical choice to recall them.\u201d
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\n\tErasmus added: \u201cWe are determined to get things right this week. Boan got a taste of what it\u2019s like to face Australia last week, and Ruan did well against them last year, while it will be good for a few other guys to experience playing against one the top teams in the world, especially as we continue to build our squad depth.
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\n\t\u201cWe are pleased with this squad, and we are all aligned on what we have to do to lift our standards this week.\u201d
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\n\tErasmus expected another physical battle against the Wallabies: \u201cThere\u2019s no doubt they\u2019ll take a lot of confidence from their victory last week, and especially since that marked their first victory at Ellis Park against us in the professional era.
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\n\t\u201cWe are still hurting from that result, and the coaches and players are extremely disappointed with the way we played last week. We know we didn\u2019t play according to our standards in the second half, and we must rectify that.
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\n\t\u201cWe let ourselves and the country down, so we have all the motivation we need to make things right this week.\u201d
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\n\tThe Boks may have enjoyed success against the Wallabies in Cape Town since 1992, where the hosts have won seven out of the eight Tests between the sides, but Erasmus said history was insignificant.
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\n\t\u201cWe don\u2019t believe in previous records and Australia showed last week that it is insignificant, so we are under no illusions that this match is going to be another proper grind,\u201d said Erasmus.
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\n\t\u201cThey also showed that they can fight until the end, so it will be vital for us to give everything until the final whistle this weekend. This match is essential for us to get our campaign on track, and we all realise the importance of ensuring that we do not make the same mistakes as last week.\u201d
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\n\tSpringbok team to face Australia in Cape Town:<\/p>\n
15 Willie le Roux (Vodacom Bulls) \u2013 100 caps, 75 pts (15t)
\n\t14 Canan Moodie (Vodacom Bulls) \u2013 15 caps, 35 pts (7t)
\n\t13 Jesse Kriel (captain, Canon Eagles) \u2013 81 caps, 95 points (19t)
\n\t12 Damian de Allende (Wild Knights) \u2013 89 caps, 55 points (11t)
\n\t11 Cheslin Kolbe (Tokyo Sungoliath) \u2013 41 caps, 111 points (18t, 3c, 5p)
\n\t10 Handre Pollard (Vodacom Bulls) – 82 caps, 797 points (7t, 116c, 168p, 5dg)
\n\t9 Grant Williams (Hollywoodbets Sharks) \u2013 20 caps, 25 pts (5t)
\n\t8 Jean-Luc du Preez (Bordeaux Begles) \u2013 14 caps 10 points (2t)
\n\t7 Franco Mostert (Honda Heat) \u2013 80 caps, 20 points (4t)
\n\t6 Marco van Staden (Vodacom Bulls) \u2013 28 caps, 15 pts (3t)
\n\t5 Ruan Nortje (Vodacom Bulls) \u2013 8 caps, 0 pts
\n\t4 RG Snyman (Leinster) \u2013 42 caps, 10 points (2t)
\n\t3 Thomas du Toit (Bath) \u2013 25 caps, 5 pts (1t)
\n\t2 Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) \u2013 79 caps, 115 pts (23t)
\n\t1 Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks) \u2013 42 caps, 0 pts
\n\tReplacements:
\n\t16 Marnus van der Merwe (Scarlets) \u2013 1 cap, 10 points (2t)
\n\t17 Boan Venter (Edinburgh) \u2013 2 caps, 5 pts (1t)
\n\t18 Wilco Louw (Vodacom Bulls) \u2013 19 caps, 0 pts
\n\t19 Eben Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks) \u2013 134 caps, 35 points (7t)
\n\t20 Lood de Jager (Wild Knights) \u2013 68 caps, 25 points (5t)
\n\t21 Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs) \u2013 54 caps, 45 points (9t)
\n\t22 Cobus Reinach (DHL Stormers) \u2013 41 caps, 70 pts (14t)
\n\t23 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (DHL Stormers) – 10 caps, 54 points (15c, 8p)
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\n\tFacts and Stats<\/p>\n
\n\tHead-to-head v Australia: Played 96; Won 52; Lost 41; Drawn 3; Points for: 1 945, Points against: 1 710; Tries scored 230, Tries conceded 177; Highest score 61-22 (Pretoria, 1997); Biggest win 45 points (53-8, Johannesburg 2008). Win % 54.2%.
\n\tJesse Kriel will lead the Springboks for the second time in a Test after taking charge of the team against Italy in the Castle Lager Incoming Series in July.
\n\t\u00a0Ox Nche will serve as the Springbok vice-captain for the first time in his career, which began back in 2018.
\n\t\u00a0Jesse Kriel and Damian de Allende will extend their record as the most-capped Springbok centre pairing in history, taking the field together for the 38th time this weekend.
\n\t\u00a0Eben Etzebeth will extend his record as the most capped Springbok of all time to 134 Test matches.
\n\t\u00a0Handre Pollard needs three points to reach 800 points in Tests for South Africa.
\n\t\u00a0Damian De Allende will move into 10th place on the list of most-capped Springboks, with 90 Tests. He is currently tied on 89 with Pieter-Steph du Toit and the late Joost van der Westhuizen.
\n\t\u00a0The match will mark the first time the teams meet in Cape Town since 2014 \u2013 the Boks won the match 28-10.
\n\t\u00a0The Boks have won seven of their last eight matches against the Wallabies in Cape Town since 1992 \u2013 a track record they will be determined to build on this weekend. Their only defeat against the Wallabies in Cape Town was in 1992, when the visitors won 26-3.
\n\tThe total Test caps for the Springbok starting line-up are 725.
\n\tThere are 428 caps in the backline, with 318 caps amongst the forwards. On the bench, there are a further 329 caps.
\n\tThe average caps per player in the backline are 61, the forwards 40, while the players on the bench average 41.
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