Springboks bring out big guns for first Ireland showdown

Rassie Erasmus named an experienced team — featuring 20 Rugby World Cup-winners – for the Springboks’ opening Test against Ireland at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

The entire starting lineup and five players on the replacements’ bench selected by Erasmus for this clash are World Cup winners.

The three players in the match-day 23 who did not participate in the international spectacle in France, where the Springboks claimed their second successive RWC title, are Gerhard Steenekamp (prop), Salmaan Moerat (lock) and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (utility back), who are elevated to a selection featuring a six-two bench split in favour of the forwards.

Twelve of the starting XV for Saturday’s showdown (six forwards and six backs) started in the 12-11 RWC final victory over New Zealand, with the other three (Willie le Roux, Kwagga Smith and Ox Nche) coming off the bench in the final.

The selection of previously unavailable players means that the team shows eight changes to the one that defeated Wales by 41-13 in London 10 days ago as Erasmus welcomed back captain Siya Kolisi, Le Roux, Cheslin Kolbe, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Handre Pollard, Marco van Staden, RG Snyman and Steenekamp.

SPRINGBOKS NAME POWERFUL SIDE

15 – Willie le Roux (Vodacom Bulls) – 93 caps, 75 pts (15t)
14 – Cheslin Kolbe (Suntory Sungoliath) – 31 caps, 91 points (14t, 3c, 5p)
13 – Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles) – 67 caps, 80 points (16t)
12 – Damian de Allende (Wild Knights) – 78 caps, 55 points (11t)
11 – Kurt-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls) – 15 caps, 65 points (13t)
10 – Handré Pollard (Leicester Tigers) – 69 caps, 698 points (7t, 96c, 152p, 5dg)
9 – Faf de Klerk (Canon Eagles) – 56 caps, 50 points (5t, 5c, 5pg)

8 – Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs) – 41 caps, 35 pts (7t)
7 – Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz) 78 caps, 40 points (8t)
6 – Siya Kolisi (captain, Racing 92) – 83 caps, 50 points (10t)
5 – Franco Mostert (Honda Heat) – 74 caps, 15 points (3t)
4 – Eben Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 120 caps, 30 points (6t)
3 – Frans Malherbe (DHL Stormers) – 70 caps, 5 points (1t)
2 – Bongi Mbonambi (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 69 caps, 70 points (14t)
1 – Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 28 caps, 0 pts

Replacements:

16 – Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) – 65 caps, 85 points (17t)
17 – Gerhard Steenekamp (Vodacom Bulls) – 1 cap, 0 points
18 – Vincent Koch (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 50 caps, 5 points (1t)
19 – Salmaan Moerat (DHL Stormers) – 4 caps, 0 points
20 – RG Snyman (Leinster) – 34 caps, 10 points (2t)
21 – Marco van Staden (Vodacom Bulls) – 18 caps, 0 pts
22 – Grant Williams (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 9 caps, 10 points (2t)
23 – Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (DHL Stormers) – 1 cap, 7 points (2c, 1p)