Steyn, Vermeulen receive full backing of Bok coach

After a series of mixed results so far this season, the Bok team will now head into a crucial Rugby Championship clash against Australia in Adelaide, where they will be desperate to get back to winning ways.

BREAKING: SPRINGBOKS UNVEIL TEAM TO FACE WALLABIES

Coach Jacques Nienaber has notably made three changes to the replacements bench, which features a split of five forwards and three backs, where Jaden Hendrikse takes over from Herschel Jantjies, while Elton Jantjies will provide back-up at flyhalf and Frans Steyn additional cover at the back. Willie le Roux and Jasper Wiese are not in the match-23 this weekend.

On no less than three occasions already this year, the Boks have suffered an early injury to one of their backline players, which has led to a particularly challenging situation due to the reliance on a six-two forwards-to-backs bench. However, Nienaber has reverted back to a five-three split for this Saturday’s game against the Wallabies,

BREAKING | RASSIE ERASMUS WILL TOUR WITH THE SPRINGBOKS

The Boks have also continued to back Duane Vermeulen to start at No 8 despite the fact that the stalwart looked clearly a bit off-the-pace in the last game against the All Blacks as he had just returned from injury.

Frans Steyn has also had limited game-time due to injury, but Nienaber is expecting the World Cup-winning duo to play key roles on Saturday.

“We definitely expect more minutes from Duane this weekend,” he said. “He’s been training well, and we’re looking forward to seeing him again. We all know what quality he is and the experience he brings to the team. We had a good week with him.

“Then we said in the Wales series Frans (Steyn) needed to get through his rehab and that he was a guy we would bring into the squad the moment he’s done his rehab and back to full fitness. Before we got him into our squad he was busy with pre-season with the Cheetahs. We’re happy with where he is currently at…

“It’s a nice opportunity to see what Frans can bring to the table. We know last year when we played New Zealand, Frans came on in the last 40 minutes when we beat them here in Australia, and he had an unbelievable game.”

BOK TEAM TO FACE AUSTRALIA IN ADELAIDE:

15 – Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers) – 20 caps, 12 pts (1t, 2c, 1p)

14 – Warrick Gelant (Racing 92) – 10 caps, 15 pts (3t)

13 – Lukhanyo Am (Cell C Sharks) – 30 caps, 30 pts (6t)

12 – Damian de Allende (Wild Knights) – 62 caps, 35 pts (7t)

11 – Makazole Mapimpi (Cell C Sharks) – 29 caps, 105 pts (21t)

10 – Handre Pollard (Leicester Tigers) – 64 caps, 662 pts (7t, 90c, 144p, 5d)

9 – Faf de Klerk (Yokohama Canon Eagles) – 39 caps, 25 pts (5t)

8 – Duane Vermeulen (Ulster) – 62 caps, 15 pts (3t)

7 – Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz) – 62 caps, 25 pts (5t)

6 – Siya Kolisi (captain, Cell C Sharks) – 67 caps, 35 pts (7t)

5 – Lood de Jager (Wild Knights) – 60 caps, 25 pts (5t)

4 – Eben Etzebeth (Cell C Sharks) – 102 caps, 15 pts (3t)

3 – Frans Malherbe (DHL Stormers) – 50 caps, 5 pts (1t)

2 – Joseph Dweba (DHL Stormers) – 3 caps, 0pts

1 – Ox Nche (Cell C Sharks) – 11 caps, 0pts

Replacements:

16 – Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) – 51 caps, 55 pts (11t)

17 – Steven Kitshoff (DHL Stormers) – 63 caps, 5 pts (1t)

18 – Vincent Koch (Wasps) 36 caps, 0 pts

19 – Franco Mostert (Honda Heat) – 55 caps, 5pts (1t)

20 – Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs) – 23 caps, 5 pts (1t)

21 – Jaden Hendrikse (Cell C Sharks) – 6 caps, 5 pts (1t)

22 – Elton Jantjies (NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes) – 45 caps, 329 pts (2t, 65c, 62p, 1d)

23 – Frans Steyn (Toyota Cheetahs) – 74 caps, 150 pts (11t, 7c, 24p, 3d)

EXCLUSIVE | SPRINGBOKS STAY THIRD IN WORLD RUGBY RANKINGS – BUT ONLY JUST!

Springbok record against the Wallabies in Australia:

Played 41; Won 12; Lost 27; Drawn 2; Points for: 685, Points against: 900; Tries scored 80, Tries conceded 91; Highest score 38-12 in Brisbane (2013); Biggest win 26 points in Brisbane (2013). Win % 29%. 

Milestones:

1. Handre Pollard needs one point to earn 50 Test points against Australia.
2. Joseph Dweba will play his first Test against Australia, with Jaden Hendrikse also on debut against the Wallabies if he takes the field.

Miscellaneous:

1. The total Test caps for the Springbok starting line-up is 671.
2. There are 254 caps in the backline with 417 caps amongst the forwards. On the bench there are a further 353 caps.
3. The average caps per player in the backline are 36, the forwards 52, while the players on the bench average 44.