A revamped Springbok rugby team featuring Herschel Jantjies and Handre Pollard as the new halfback pairing has been named to tame the Wallabies in a one-off Test match in Perth on Sunday.
Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has made 13 changes to his starting team, with only lock Eben Etzebeth and wing Ethan Hooker retaining their places in the run-on team from the side’s 43-28 victory against the All Blacks in Baltimore.
It will be a landmark match for Bok No 8 Jasper Wiese, who will earn his 50th Test cap off the bench, and hybrid player Andre Esterhuizen will become the 68th player to captain SA at the Optus Stadium (kickoff 11.45am SA time).
The changes see the introduction of a new front row in props Jan-Hendrik Wessels and Zachary Porthen, and hooker Johan Grobbelaar, while Etzebeth will join forces with Franco Mostert in the engine room, and Paul de Villiers, Elrigh Louw (both flanks), and Marco van Staden (No 8) will complete the forward pack.
“Each player in this squad has been working hard at training over the past few months and has had a chance to play in either the first leg of the Nations Championship or Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series,” Erasmus said.
“Guys like Handre and Canan have recovered from injury, and they are all quality players, so we are pleased to give them a run and we are excited to see this team in action.
“Australia poses a completely different threat to New Zealand in the way they play, so we believe these combinations would be best suited for the challenge that we will face against them.
“Andre captained the Sharks, and he has brought so much to our squad off and on the field, both at centre and in the loose trio, and he thoroughly deserves this opportunity.
“It will also help build our leadership core even more within the team, with several players having captained the side over the last few seasons, and we trust that he is the right man to take over the captaincy in this match.”
Erasmus said it was decided to send Pieter-Steph du Toit and Damian de Allende home because they deserved a break after a busy season.
“They had a heavy workload in the last few months, and they deserve a break, but at the same time we decided from the outset that if everything went according to plan, we would rest them for this match, so it made sense to send them home to spend time with their families.
“We’ve been working closely with our head of athletic performance Andy Edwards on how best to manage the players to get the most out of them in this important encounter, so we had a few days off for the players’ bodies to recover from the last few Tests and also from the travel.
“So we had two days of training in Terrigal and resumed our usual Test week programme on Tuesday.
“This is going to be a big challenge against a team that has been playing good rugby, and who have won four of their last five matches, with their other result being a draw against the Pumas in Argentina.”
Springbok team: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 Andre Esterhuizen (captain), 11 Ethan Hooker, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Marco van Staden, 7 Elrigh Louw, 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Zachary Porthen, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Jan-Hendrik Wessels. Replacements: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Ox Nche, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Lood de Jager, 20 Jasper Wiese, 21 Morne van den Berg, 22 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 23 Quan Horn.
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