Springboks team announcement for All Blacks / Rassie muses
We get a front row seat for the Bok team announcement. Canan Moodie (wing) and Jaden Hendrikse (scrumhalf) make their first appearances in the Springbok jersey since the 2023 Rugby World Cup on Saturday while double RWC winners Willie le Roux (fullback) and Lukhanyo Am (utility back) also return to the match-23 face New Zealand in the Castle Lager Rugby Championship in Cape Town.
Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus recalled the quartet to the side, which shows seven changes, two of which are positional, to the starting XV which defeated the All Blacks, 31-27, at Emirates Airline Park in Johannesburg on Saturday.
Grant Williams (scrumhalf) earns his first start of the season in partnership with Handre Pollard (flyhalf) who is promoted from the bench along with Eben Etzebeth (lock), while Le Roux and Moodie come straight into the XV.
Springbok captain Siya Kolisi, who took a hard blow to the cheek in last week’s clash, made it through all the training sessions this week, and has been cleared to play, which will see him start in a powerful loose trio with Jasper Wiese (No 8) and Pieter-Steph du Toit, who reverts from lock to flanker.
Etzebeth will pair up with the hard-working Ruan Nortje in the engine room, while Du Toit’s inclusion in the loose trio and Le Roux as the last line of defence sees Ben-Jason Dixon and Aphelele Fassi sit out of this week’s encounter, along with scrumhalf Cobus Reinach.
Moodie fills the void left by Kurt-Lee Arendse, who has been ruled out of the match due to concussion, with his inclusion seeing Kolbe move from the right to left wing.
The Boks have reverted to a traditional five-three split on the bench with Am joining Hendrikse and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (utility back) among the back replacements.
Erasmus warned that he was expecting New Zealand to raise their game to greater heights than last week’s nail-biter.
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