{"id":582888,"date":"2026-08-28T10:42:18","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T10:42:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/582888\/"},"modified":"2026-08-28T10:42:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T10:42:18","slug":"springboks-lose-double-world-cup-winner-for-second-all-blacks-test","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/582888\/","title":{"rendered":"Springboks lose double World Cup winner for second All Blacks Test"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Springboks<\/a> will reportedly be without the services of Handre Pollard for the second Test against the All Blacks.<\/p>\n

Rassie Erasmus named the veteran fly-half in the starting XV for the second Rugby\u2019s Greatest Rivalry Test, taking over the number 10 shirt from Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu for the meeting in Cape Town.<\/p>\n

Handre Pollard ruled out?<\/p>\n

However, according to Netwerk24, the double Rugby World Cup winner has sustained a calf injury in training, which is set to rule him out of the fixture in the Mother City.<\/p>\n

If true, Erasmus will likely turn to either Manie Libbok or Feinberg-Mngomezulu to start in the number 10 jersey, with the latter doing so in the series opener<\/a> in Johannesburg, a match in which the former came off the bench.<\/p>\n

The veteran playmaker is renowned for a more conservative approach on attack, perhaps better suited to the gloomy conditions that are expected in the Mother City on Saturday.<\/p>\n

However, both Libbok and Feinberg-Mngomezulu have plenty of experience with those conditions, having both played for the Stormers. They have also produced strong results when starting at fly-half against the All Blacks<\/a>, with Libbok masterminding the 35-7 victory over New Zealand at Twickenham in 2023 while Feinberg-Mngomezulu has lost just one Test when starting at fly-half for the Boks.<\/p>\n

CONFIRMED: Rassie Erasmus makes two changes on the eve of second All Blacks Tests<\/a><\/p>\n

Nick Mallett gives blunt verdict on Rassie Erasmus\u2019 selection changes and reveals what he expects from Springboks in All Blacks rematch<\/a><\/p>\n

The reports of Pollard\u2019s unavailability come after Erasmus confirmed that captain Siya Kolisi will be fit to captain the side in the second Test. The inspirational skipper was named in the starting XV on Monday but was bracketed along with Paul de Villiers, with Kolisi needing to get through the early parts of the week\u2019s training.<\/p>\n

Having done so, he will start in a back row that features Jasper Wiese and Pieter-Steph du Toit, who earns his 100th Test cap for South Africa. It will be the 17th time that the trio has started a match for the Boks together, equalling the all-time record set by Francois Louw, Willem Alberts and Duane Vermeulen.<\/p>\n

Rugby\u2019s Greatest Rivalry: World Rugby confirm referee changes for Springboks v All Blacks Tests<\/a><\/p>\n

Joel Stransky \u2018a little concerned\u2019 with Rassie Erasmus\u2019 Handre Pollard selection as \u2018message\u2019 sent for All Blacks rematch<\/a><\/p>\n

Current Springboks team for Test II<\/p>\n

Springboks: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Ethan Hooker, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Thomas du Toit, 19 Lood de Jager, 20 Andre Esterhuizen, 21 Cameron Hanekom, 22 Morne van den Berg, 23 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu<\/p>\n

Venue: DHL Stadium, Cape Town
Date: Saturday, 29 August, 2026
Kick-off: 17:10 (local SAST), 16:10 (UK), 17:10 (France), 17:10 (South Africa), 01:10 (23 August, AEST), 03:10 (23 August, New Zealand), 12:10 (Argentina), 00:10 (23 August, JST), 11:10 (EDT)
Referee: Angus Gardner (RA)
Assistant Referees: Karl Dickson (RFU), Sam Grove-White (Scotland)
TMO: Brett Cronan (Australia)
FPRO: Eric Gauzins (FFR)<\/p>\n

READ MORE:\u00a0All Blacks team v Springboks: Five takeaways as tour \u2018accelerates\u2019 for duo but Dave Rennie ignores Richie Mo\u2019unga \u2018temptation\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Springboks will reportedly be without the services of Handre Pollard for the second Test against the All…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":582889,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[1463,1464,111,43,139,69,6327,213],"class_list":["post-582888","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-home-page","tag-internationals","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582888","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=582888"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/582888\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/582889"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=582888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=582888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=582888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}