BREAKING: Jacques Nienaber names Springboks team! Debut, Duane to captain and 10 rare starts!

Jacques Nienaber has just named his Springboks to take on Australia. Duane Vermeulen will captain a side featuring several fringe players and one debutant.

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Nienaber has officially named his team for the Rugby Championship opener against Australia at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday. 08 July 2023.

Duane Vermeulen has been named captain, while Jean Kleyn is set to make his Springboks debut. Nienaber has handed 10 fringe players rare starts as Rassie Erasmus deploys his split squad strategy.

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DUANE VERMEULEN TO CAPTAIN FRINGE PLAYERS AGAINST AUSTRALIA:

Vermeulen will lead out the Springboks for the third time after he was named captain.

He will lead out as many as nine other fringe players who will be earning rare starts under Nienaber, including the likes of Ox, Mbonambi, Klein, Orie, van Staden, Reinach, Libbok, Esterhuizen and Moodie (Vermeulen is the tenth player).

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Furthermore, there is a strong balance of experienced first-choice regulars blended in.

Malherbe, du Toit, Am, Arendse, Le Roux were all key figures for the Boks last year. Also, there is no shortage of experience from the likes of Mbonambi (56 caps) and Vermeulen (65 caps)

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Nienaber and Rassie Erasmus have implemented a split-squad strategy to injure the bulk of the squad to overcome jetlag so that they are 100% fit when the Boks take on New Zealand on 15 June 2023.

The same strategy helped the Boks win the 2019 Rugby Championship. Also, with Eddie Jones now at the helm of the Wallabies, Boks management did not want to chance an inexperienced side.

SPRINGBOKS TEAM TO FACE AUSTRALIA IN PRETORIA:

15 – Willie le Roux (Toyota Verblitz) – 83 caps, 65 pts (13t)

14 – Canan Moodie (Vodacom Bulls) – 4 caps, 5 pts (1t)

13 – Lukhanyo Am (Cell C Sharks) – 31 caps, 30 pts (6t)

12 – Andre Esterhuizen (Harlequins) – 11 caps, 0 pts

11 – Kurt-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls) – 7 caps, 35 pts (7t)

10 – Manie Libbok (DHL Stormers) – 3 caps, 10 pts (5c)

9 – Cobus Reinach (Montpellier) – 24 caps, 45 pts (9t)

8 – Duane Vermeulen (captain, Ulster) – 65 caps, 15 pts (3t)

7 – Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz) – 66 caps, 25 pts (5t)

6 – Marco van Staden (Vodacom Bulls) – 10 caps, 0 pts

5 – Marvin Orie (DHL Stormers) – 11 caps, 0 pts

4 – Jean Kleyn (Munster) – uncapped for SA (Ireland 5 caps)

3 – Frans Malherbe (DHL Stormers) – 58 caps, 5 pts (1t)

2 – Bongi Mbonambi (Cell C Sharks) – 56 caps, 60 pts (12t)

1 – Ox Nche (Cell C Sharks) – 19 caps, 0 pts

Replacements:

16 – Joseph Dweba (DHL Stormers) – 4 caps, 0 pts

17 – Thomas du Toit (Cell C Sharks) – 15 caps, 0 pts

18 – Vincent Koch (Stade Francais) – 41 caps, 0 pts

19 – RG Snyman (Munster) – 23 caps, 5 pts (1t)

20 – Evan Roos (DHL Stormers) – 3 caps, 0 pts

21 – Deon Fourie (DHL Stormers) – 5 caps, 0 pts

22 – Grant Williams (Cell C Sharks) – 1 cap, 0 pts

23 – Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers) – 27 caps, 36 pts (2t, 4c, 4p, 2d)