Ton Up For Damian As Du Toit Leads Boks Into Battle

Damian de Allende will become the 10th Springbok centurion when the double world champions take on the All Blacks in the opening Test of the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series at Ellis Park on Saturday.

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Only two players who started in South Africa’s last outing against Argentina in Buenos Aires, which the Boks won 17-10, have retained their places in the starting XV, namely Eben Etzebeth (lock) and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (flyhalf).

A further seven players from the clash in Buenos Aires – Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Marco van Staden, Cobus Wiese (all utility forwards), Gerhard Steenekamp, Zachary Porthen (both props), Andre Esterhuizen (flanker and centre), and Cobus Reinach (scrumhalf) – have been included on the bench.

Pieter-Steph du Toit, one of the players who skipped the trip to Argentina to prepare for the series opener against New Zealand, will lead the Boks into battle and is joined in the loose trio by Paul de Villiers and Jasper Wiese.

“Siya trained well with us this week, and although we could have selected him for this clash, we thought it would be best to select Paul for this weekend’s game,” explained Rassie Erasmus.

“We are playing four Tests against the All Blacks and Paul has been playing well, so we are excited to give him a chance this weekend in what will be his first Test match against New Zealand, while taking a precautionary approach to Siya’s return.

“We have a solid group of players, and each one of them deserves their places in the squad, so we will approach team selection week by week.”

Ox Nche makes a welcome return from injury and will partner up with Malcolm Marx and Wilco Louw in the front row, while Etzebeth will reunite with Ruan Nortje in the engine room.

Grant Williams will join forces with Feinberg-Mngomezulu, De Allende will resume his record-breaking centre partnership with Jesse Kriel, while Kurt-Lee Arendse, Cheslin Kolbe and Damian Willemse form the back three.

Erasmus retained the same replacement front row from two weeks ago of Wessels, Steenekamp and Porthen, with Cobus Wiese, Van Staden, and Esterhuizen also providing forward cover, while the two specialist backs are Reinach and Manie Libbok.

“The All Blacks are a quality team, and we selected combinations we think would be best suited for the challenge this weekend,” said Erasmus.

“The squad is well balanced with players who remained in South Africa to train for this series and some of the players who featured against Argentina.

“It certainly helped to have some players return from injury last week and to get back into top-flight Test rugby, while some of the others who had a heavy workload in the Nations Championship had sufficient time to recover from the physical toll on them.

“The whole group has now been together for over a week, and we are all aligned regarding the way we want to play this weekend.”

The Bok coach expected another epic encounter against the All Blacks: “They are a quality team and they’re very well coached, so we are preparing for an 80-minute grind. They have a well-rounded squad with physical forwards and an exciting backline, so we have to be sharp and accurate in our execution from the outset.

“Many of the matches between the sides have come down to the wire, so it’s important that we use the chances we create and ensure that our discipline is on point. It’s going to be a big battle, but the entire squad is excited about the match and are looking forward to it.”

Fast facts:

• Damian de Allende will become only the 10th player in Springbok history to feature in 100 Tests on Saturday after making his international debut against Argentina in 2014.
  
• Pieter-Steph du Toit, who will lead the team in his fourth Test this season, requires only one more appearance after this match to join the exclusive club of Springbok centurions, with the flanker running out in his 99th Test match this weekend.
  
• Prop Ox Nche will feature in his 49th Test match, leaving him only one match short of earning 50 Test matches, while Jasper Wiese requires only three more Test caps to earn his 50th cap.
  
• Eben Etzebeth will extend his record as the most capped Springbok player of all time to 143 caps when he takes the field.
  
• Manie Libbok requires only three more points to earn 150 international points.
  
• The Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series marks the first time since 1996 that the All Blacks have embarked on a traditional rugby tour to South Africa.
  
• The last time the Springboks met the All Blacks in Johannesburg was in the Rugby Championship in 2024, with the Boks winning that match by 31-27.
  
• The Springboks have won five of the last six matches between the teams dating back to August 2023, which included the Rugby World Cup final in France that same year.
  
• The total Test caps in the Springbok starting line-up is 850. There are 373 caps in the backline, with 477 caps among the forwards. On the bench, there are a further 193 caps.
  
• The average caps per player in the backline is 53, the forwards 60, while the players on the bench average 24.

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

Replacements: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Zachary Porthen, 19 Cobus Wiese, 20 Andre Esterhuizen, 21 Marco van Staden, 22 Cobus Reinach, 23 Manie Libbok.