BOK TEAM: Kolbe Switches Roles For Soweto Showdown

Cheslin Kolbe will wear the No. 15 jersey for the Springboks in the third Test of the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series against the All Blacks in Soweto on Saturday. 

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Kolbe, who is coming off a Man of the Match performance in the Boks’ 33-26 win in Cape Town at the weekend to level the series, shifts to fullback to replace the injured Damian Willemse, with Kurt-Lee Arendse coming on to the wing.

The only other changes to the side see Ox Nche, Malcolm Marx and Wilco Louw rotate with Gerhard Steenekamp, Deon Fourie and Thomas du Toit as the starting front row.

“It was always our plan to have a little more continuity in player combinations for this series and we thought that the players who did the job for us last week really showed composure and did well to stick to the plan and what we wanted to achieve last week,” said Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus.

“Unfortunately, Damian Willemse took a knock in the first half and was not available for selection this weekend, and neither was Handre Pollard, and by sticking to these combinations and making one switch with Cheslin at fullback, we thought it would be the best for this match.

“Kurt-Lee was unlucky not to play last week after Cheslin recovered from his niggle, so we are pleased to see him back. He is a quality player and his 25 tries in 33 matches so far shows the type of player he is.” 

Of the decision to switch his front rows and reverting to the original starting front row he announced last week, Erasmus said: “We decided to change our front rows last week due to the weather conditions, and Johannesburg weather is different to Cape Town, so we thought this would be the best decision for us this weekend.

“Gerhard, Thomas, and Deon have played massive games for us, and at the same time know how to deal with pressure, and that is exactly what we need against a never-say-die team like the All Blacks, who play for the full 80-minutes.”

Erasmus expected the All Blacks, who won the series opener 33-16 at Ellis Park, to come out firing this weekend after suffering their first loss of the tour in Cape Town. 

“We know how it felt after the first match in Johannesburg, and such a result really galvanises a team, so we have no doubt that they will go full-out to win this Test match before the series finale in the USA next week.

“They are one of the two best teams in the world and based on experience, they never give up, as we saw last weekend, so this will undoubtedly be another epic encounter between the sides.

“After two games, we are both into hard Test rugby mode, and we have a good idea of what to expect from one another, so it is going to be another grind of a match.”

Erasmus added: “This game is going to be equally, if not more intense than the last two given the fact that the team that wins this match will be two games up in the series, which will make the clash in the USA the decider or game that could see the series finish in a draw, so there will be a different vibe around this match.

“We are excited that we will be playing at the FNB stadium, where on a good day there is an 80 000 strong crowd, and that will be a new and exciting experience for our players because most of these players have never ran onto the field there, and the support we enjoy there will add to the occasion.

“With the vuvuzelas and passionate crowd there, we can hardly hear one another on the field, so we are all thrilled about this occasion. But make no mistake, this is going to be another intense battle between the two top teams in the world who are both looking to get an edge in the series, so we know what we have to do, and composure and accuracy are going to be vital for both sides.”

Fast facts:

• Eben Etzebeth will extend his record as the most-capped Bok player of all time to 145 caps when he takes the field.
  
• The loose trio of Siya Kolisi, Pieter-Steph du Toit, and Jasper Wiese will pass the record they currently share with Francois Louw, Willem Alberts, and Duane Vermeulen as the loose trio with the most Test starts at 17 – three more than Bok coach Rassie Erasmus, Andre Venter and Gary Teichmann, who started 14 Tests together.
  
• Should he take the field, Deon Fourie will stretch his record as the oldest Bok player to play in a Test match at 39 years by a further week.
  
• The teams have only met twice at the FNB Stadium in history in 2010 and 2012, with the All Blacks winning both matches (29-22 and 32-16).
  
• Jasper Wiese requires only two more Test match appearances after this match to join the group of players who have earned 50 Test caps.
  
• The Boks have won six of the last eight matches between the teams dating back to August 2023.
  
• The total Test caps in the Bok starting line-up is 958. There are 366 caps in the backline, with 592 caps among the forwards. On the bench, there are a further 222 caps.
  
• The average caps per player in the backline is 52, the forwards 74, while the players on the bench average 28.

South Africa: 15 Cheslin Kolbe, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Ethan Hooker, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche.

Replacements: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Thomas du Toit, 19 Lood de Jager, 20 André Esterhuizen, 21 Cameron Hanekom, 22 Morne van den Berg, 23 Manie Libbok.