Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus said he “changed his mind” about playing captain Siya Kolisi at eight during the current international season with the threat that the Wallabies pose at the breakdown the key reason why he selected Kolisi at the back of the scrum for Saturday’s Castle Lager Rugby Championship opener in Johannesburg.
Two months ago Erasmus was asked at the same hotel in Johannesburg about Kolisi’s prospects of moving to the back of the scrum, especially as he had done a similar thing for the Sharks during the Vodacom United Rugby Championship and he dismissed the idea out of hand, saying that Siya would only play in his regular six jersey.
But since then the Boks have been hit by injuries and suspensions, with Elrigh Louw, Cameron Hanekom and Juarno Augustus all ruled out by injury and Jasper Wiese suspended for the first three games of the Rugby Championship.
Erasmus had tried lock Cobus Wiese in the role against Georgia, while he left out No 8 Evan Roos from the squad and has two other eights - Kwagga Smith and Jean-Luc du Preez in the Bok camp at the moment.
WALLABY BREAKDOWN THREAT
The crux of the selection, however, was the threat that the Wallabies bring with the likes of Fraser McReight and Carlo Tizzano at the breakdown, was enough to change Erasmus’ mind on the matter and move the captain to the back of the scrum.
While there have been eyebrows raised about the Boks naming of the team on a Monday, Erasmus added they wanted to get the speculation out of the way and since they had been in camp for three weeks already, the announcement made sense so early.
Plus, there is an asterix on the selection. Should Australia go with a six-two split on the bench, the Boks may decide to alter their bench to a similar six-two split - where RG Snyman would come into the match day 23 - possibly at the expense of Canan Moodie.
Should Australia stay with the traditional five-three split, the likelihood is that the Boks will stick to the bench they selected as well.
CHANGED MIND ON SIYA
“On Siya, we actually changed our mind there,” Erasmus explained, “the more we practiced, the more we realised that the only position that the guy really plays at eight is at scrums, and that is 13 or 14 times during the game.
“But general play is the thing that happens the most and having a guy like Pieter-Steph (du Toit) Marco (van Staden) and Siya on the field at the same time, we really think that Australia is a big threat at the breakdown. We know they bite hard at the breakdown and all three of those guys are really good at cleaning out at the breakdown and we feel we need that.
“So yes, Siya is going to pack down at eight at the scrum and sometimes on defence he may pack down at six and Marco at eight. (Scrum coach) Daan (Human) is happy that he is scrumming well so it is really just at the scrums where he will be at eight.
"Apart from that in general play, defence and attack he will have his regular role. I know I said a few weeks ago that he wouldn’t play eight but we came to the conclusion that it won’t happen so much in the game that we need him at eight. We have Kwagga on the bench that covers there as well.”
What a way to start the week! Check out the #Springboks team to face Australia at Ellis Park on Saturday 🔥#ForeverGreenForeverGold
— Springboks (@Springboks) August 11, 2025
The Bok decision is a big move away from their regular choice of a big ball-carrying No 8 in favour of a horses-for-courses selection to counter the threat of the Wallabies fetchers, which underlines the threat they see in the Wallaby selections.
LIBBOK STARTS, HANDRE, SACHA WAIT FOR CAPE TOWN
Erasmus also explained why Manie Libbok had been given the 10 jersey and the absence of the two other flyhalves in the squad - Handre Pollard and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu. Damian Willemse will cover 10, 12 and 15 off the bench for the Boks, even though they have gone with a traditional five-three split.
Libbok has been touted as the flyhalf who gets the Bok attack firing while the other two players are a bit more tactical. On a hard field like Ellis Park, the Boks are likely to want a fast game and feel Libbok will be their best selection to run at the Wallabies.
“Sacha and Handre will probably play in Cape Town, so we are trying to spread the load there. And then not having a flyhalf on the bench? Damian can play flyhalf for us, and we’ve found in the past the only time we swap a flyhalf is when he is having an off day, or when he is missing goal kicks, and Manie has been really kicking well for us lately,” Erasmus said.
“I think the new Rhino balls might be the difference there for him. We felt we needed to have a 13 cover with Damian de Allende, who normally covers 13 for us, having a niggle and sitting out this week. We felt we needed to have Canan on the bench. It was between that or having Handre or Sacha on the bench. We don’t have an out and out 13 cover, but we do have a 10 cover.”
CHESLIN NIGGLE
Erasmus also revealed that Cheslin Kolbe was struggling with a knee niggle, but would be fit for Cape Town’s second match against the Wallabies next weekend.
The side selected features 18 World Cup winners and only three of the players have five tests or fewer – Jan-Hendrik Wessels (utility forward), Edwill van der Merwe (wing) and Asenathi Ntlabakanye (prop), who made his test debut against Italy in July.
The Springboks will be hunting their fifth successive victory against the Wallabies in the match after defeating them in both Castle Lager Rugby Championship games in Australia last season and once each in 2023 and 2022.
The match will mark a significant occasion for veteran Springbok lock Eben Etzebeth, who will extend his record as the most capped Bok of all time to 134 matches, which will see him pass Ireland scrumhalf Conor Murray from joint-11th place in the global pecking order to joint 10th
WALLABIES DANGEROUS
With Australia coming off a confidence-boosting 22-12 victory after a heartbreaking 29-26 defeat against the British & Irish Lions, Erasmus expected a challenging test against them.
“Australia showed that they are on the right trajectory in their last two matches against the British & Irish Lions and we have no doubt they will enter this match with confidence and determination to build on those performances,” he said.
“They are a physical and well-coached team, and we’ll certainly not underestimate how much those performances, combined with their motivation to bounce back strongly against us after the last few results between the teams, and win their first match ever at Ellis Park, will inspire them.
“That said, we have also been working hard to keep building on our game and improve, and we believe our two-week conditioning camp has placed us in the right frame of mind for the Castle Lager Rugby Championship.
"So hopefully we can transfer that hard work into our game to place ourselves in a good position to defend the title.”
Springbok team to face Australia in Johannesburg:
15 Aphelele Fassi (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 12 caps, 35 points (7t)
14 Edwill van der Merwe (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 3 caps, 25 pts (5t)
13 Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles) – 80 caps, 95 points (19t)
12 Andre Esterhuizen (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 20 caps, 0 pts
11 Kurt-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls) – 26 caps, 100 points (20t)
10 Manie Libbok (Kintetsu Liners) – 20 caps, 108 pts (1t, 35c, 11p)
9 Grant Williams (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 19 caps, 25 pts (5t)
8 Siya Kolisi (captain, Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 93 caps, 60 points (12t)
7 Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz) – 88 caps, 60 pts (12t)
6 Marco van Staden (Vodacom Bulls) – 27 caps, 15 pts (3t)
5 Lood de Jager (Wild Knights) – 67 caps, 25 points (5t)
4 Eben Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 133 caps, 35 points (7t)
3 Wilco Louw (Vodacom Bulls) – 18 caps, 0 pts
2 Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) – 78 caps, 115 pts (23t)
1 Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 41 caps, 0 pts
Replacements:
16 Bongi Mbonambi (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 79 caps, 70 points (14t)
17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Vodacom Bulls) – 5 caps, 10 pts (2t)
18 Asenathi Ntlabakanye (Lions) – 1 cap, 0 pts
19 Franco Mostert (Honda Heat) – 79 caps, 20 points (4t)
20 Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs) – 53 caps, 45 points (9t)
21 Cobus Reinach (DHL Stormers) – 40 caps, 70 pts (14t)
22 Canan Moodie (Vodacom Bulls) – 14 caps, 35 pts (7t)
23 Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers) – 41 caps, 61 points (5t, 9c, 4p, 2 dg)
Facts and Stats
Head-to-head v Australia
Played 95; Won 52; Lost 40; Drawn 3; Points for: 1 923, Points against: 1 672; Tries scored 227, Tries conceded 171; Highest score 61-22 (Pretoria, 1997); Biggest win 45 points (53-8, Johannesburg 2008). Win per cent 54.7 per cent.
Miscellaneous
• Should the Springboks win, it will be the first time they have won five successive tests against the Wallabies in more than half a century (they won seven matches in a row against Australia between 1969 and 1971).
• Eben Etzebeth will extend his record as the most capped Springbok of all time to 134 test matches when he takes the field. He will also move past Conor Murray as the 11th most capped men’s player in rugby history, which will see him level with Gethin Jenkins in joint-10th place on the list.
• Springbok captain Siya Kolisi’s starting berth will see him strike 94 test caps, meaning he will only require six more test appearances to become the ninth player in South African rugby history to earn 100 test caps.
• A victory for the Springboks will see them extend their unbeaten run against the Wallabies at Ellis Park to seven matches. They have never lost a match against Australia at the iconic stadium.
• The Boks have won six of their last 10 matches against the Wallabies – a track record they will be determined to improve on this weekend. Their last defeat against the Wallabies was in Adelaide in 2022.
• The total test caps for the Springbok starting line-up are 725.
• There are 180 caps in the backline, with 545 caps among the forwards. On the bench, there are a further 312 caps.
• The average caps per player in the backline are 26, the forwards 68, while the players on the bench average 39.