Springboks shock: 7-1 bench, no scrumhalf replacement

On Thursday, the Springboks named their team for the World Cup final against the All Blacks, notablly recalling the 2019 final halfback pairing of Handré Pollard and Faf de Klerk to the run-on side.

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Just as notable, though, was the fact that Manie Libbok and Cobus Reinach drop out of the matchday 23, with the coaches opting for a 7-1 forwards-to-backs split on the bench, with Willie le Roux the only backline replacement.

This means the duties of covering scrumhalf in an emergency will likely fall to Cheslin Kolbe.

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The only enforced change among the replacements is at prop where Trevor Nyakane replaces Vincent Koch, who is nursing a knee injury. He joins Ox Nche and Deon Fourie as front-row cover, while the Munster duo of RG Snyman and Kleyn will serve as the back-up locks, and Kwagga Smith and Wiese the back-up loose forwards.

“We have said many times that we pick teams for varying gameplans depending on the opponent and that we use all 23 players to try and achieve those goals,” said coach Jacques Nienaber.

“We’ve gone from a five-three bench split to a seven-one split to give us the best chance of being successful. We have plans in place to mitigate for injuries in the backline, but we’re excited about our plan and we embrace the risk.”

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Springboks team to face New Zealand in the Rugby World Cup final:

15 – Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers) – 38 caps, 56 pts (4t, 9c, 4p, 2d)
14 – Kurt-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls) – 14 caps, 65 points (13t)
13 – Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles) – 67 caps, 75 points (15t)
12 – Damian de Allende (Wild Knights) – 77 caps, 55 points (11t)
11 – Cheslin Kolbe (Suntory Sungoliath) – 30 caps, 91 points (14t, 3c, 5p)
10 – Handré Pollard (Leicester Tigers) – 68 caps, 686 points (7t, 96c, 148p, 5dg)
9 – Faf de Klerk (Canon Eagles) – 54 caps, 50 points (5t, 5c, 5pg)
8 – Duane Vermeulen (SA Rugby) – 75 caps, 15 pts (3t)
7 – Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz) 75 caps, 40 points (8t)
6 – Siya Kolisi (captain – Racing 92) – 82 caps, 50 points (10t)
5 – Franco Mostert (Honda Heat, Japan) – 72 caps, 15 points (3t)
4 – Eben Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 118 caps, 30 points (6t)
3 – Frans Malherbe (DHL Stormers) – 68 caps, 5 points (1t)
2 – Bongi Mbonambi (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 67 caps, 65 points (13t)
1 – Steven Kitshoff (Ulster) – 82 caps, 10 points (2t)
Replacements
16 – Deon Fourie (DHL Stormers) – 12 caps, 10 pts (2t)
17 – Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 27 caps, 0 pts
18 – Trevor Nyakane (Racing 92) – 66 caps, 5 pts (1t)
19 – Jean Kleyn (Munster) – 6 caps, 0 pts (Ireland 5 caps)
20 – RG Snyman (Munster) – 33 caps, 10 points (2t)
21 – Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs) – 39 caps, 35 pts (7t)
22 – Jasper Wiese (Leicester Tigers) – 26 caps, 5 pts (1t)
23 – Willie le Roux (Vodacom Bulls) – 92 caps, 75 pts (15t)

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Stats and facts:

Springbok record against New Zealand:
Played: 105, Won: 39. Lost: 62, Drawn: 4. Points for: 1 729; Points against: 2 185; Tries scored: 168; Tries conceded: 239. Win %: 37.1%.

Milestones:
• Faf de Klerk and Handre Pollard will start together as halfback combination for the 25th time, moving past Joost van der Westhuizen and Henry Honiball (24 Tests) as most experienced halfbacks in Springbok history.
• Bongi Mbonambi will move into joint-fourth place on the list of most starts at hooker, passing Malcolm Marx with his 35th start. The first four on the list are John Smit (81), Bismarck du Plessis (50), James Dalton (40) and Adriaan Strauss (35).

Miscellaneous:
• The Boks have played 12 Tests against four different opponents at the Stade de France, winning nine and losing three.
• If used off the bench, Trevor Nyakane will play his 49th Test as a replacement for South Africa. Only Steven Kitshoff (54) has more appearances as a substitute.
• The Springboks and the All Blacks have met on five previous occasions at a Rugby World Cup. The Boks won the first two (the final in 1995 and the third-place playoff in 1999) and New Zealand the other three (quarter-final in 2003, semi-final in 2015 and pool match in 2019).
• This is the most experienced team in Springbok history with a combined total of 987caps (eclipsing the record set the previous week against England of 895 Test caps).
• There are 348 caps in the backline, with 639 caps among the forwards. On the bench there are a further 301 caps.
• The average caps per player in the backline is 50, the forwards 80, while the players on the bench average 38.

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