Scrumhalf Jaden Hendrikse was the only real surprise as the Springboks reverted back to their strongest possible side for Saturday’s third test against Wales in Cape Town.
While the Boks have been promising to “pick their strongest side” all week, the inclusion of Hendrikse ahead of Faf de Klerk would have raised eyebrows while the non-selection of several others probably would have as well.
Damian Willemse returns to the fullback role as he did at Loftus Versfeld in an acknowledgement for his match-winning penalty, with Willie le Roux once again on the bench as cover from many of the backline positions.
But elsewhere there was little sign of many of the side that lost the second test in Bloemfontein as Jacques Nienaber’s team looks to avoid embarassment and wrap up the series decider in Cape Town.
Handre Pollard returns to the flyhalf role and the vice-captaincy with Siya Kolisi captaining the side while Eben Etzebeth is set to play his 100th test match in his former home stadium in front of friends and family.
Other than Pieter-Steph du Toit, who did duty in Bloemfontein, the rest of the pack is the exact same one from Loftus Versfeld and other than Hendrikse there is little evidence that any of the Boks from last Saturday caught the eye.
Hendrikse’s box kicking was possibly his best feature, and with De Klerk struggling at Loftus that may well have given him the nod for the third test ahead of the veteran.
Willemse’s last minute penalty to win the game and the coolness he showed under pressure probably won him the nod, while Pollard and Du Toit were always going to return to the side.
Interestingly the Boks have reverted back to the bomb squad six-two split that they basically had in Pretoria, with Elrigh Louw, who impressed on debut getting another shot.
While fans of the likes of Evan Roos, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Warrick Gelant will be disappointed, it is clear the Bok management sees this as their strongest side and is in no mood to experiment anymore.
The first-ever loss against Wales was bad enough for the side, but an embarrassing series loss at home would be even worse and place a lot of pressure on them ahead of two tests against the All Blacks in the next few weeks.
And while the majority of this same side struggled in the first half of the first test, they do have one thing last Saturday’s team do not have - and that is a very strong bench.
Malcolm Marx and Vincent Koch were both on the bench last week and are joined by Steven Kitshoff in a replacement front row that would be the envy of any side worldwide.
Franco Mostert played at seven at Loftus Versfeld but he reverts back to his more normal bombsquad role alongside Kwagga Smith and Louw, with the latter two putting in big second half performances as the Boks stormed back at Loftus to win the game.
De Klerk and Le Roux give the Boks two very experienced campaigners on the bench as they continue to give younger players like Willemse and Hendrikse game time.
Trevor Nyakane also packs down again at loosehead, much like Thomas du Toit, who also plays tighthead most of the time, did last weekend.
There is also no sign of Elton Jantjies, who was defended by coach Jacques Nienaber, but doesn’t even feature in the 23 named this weekend.
While Nienaber was proud of the remarkable career milestones for Etzebeth and Mbonambi, he said the match was significant for the entire team with a Castle Lager Incoming Series victory at stake.
“We are very proud of Eben and Bongi for their achievements, although it would be remiss of us as a team for that to out-shadow the fact that we need to win on Saturday to seal the series against Wales,” said Nienaber.
“Wales have shown over the years and in the last two matches that they are real fighters, and it will require a top-class performance from us on Saturday to register a victory and ultimately clinch the series.
“That said, Eben and Bongi have been true stalwarts to Springbok rugby, and we hope that we can make this a special occasion for them. No-one wants to remember losing their 100th or 50th Test, so we need to do everything we can to win the match.”
Of his team selection Nienaber said: “We selected a team and player combinations that we think will be the best for this specific game.
“We had an honest discussion with the players telling them what we require from them this weekend and what we would like to see in terms of their performance and hopefully they can produce the goods and we can get the desired result.
“We have high standards as a team, and we would like to maintain that and build momentum with a challenging season lying ahead.”
Nienaber expected another brave effort from Wales and said: “We pointed out from the outset of the series that Wales will be desperate and they showed that in the last two weeks.
“We are expecting another hard grind against them and the fact that they will be playing for their first series victory ever in South Africa will make them even more desperate to push us to the limit this weekend, so we know it will be an epic battle.
“That said, we are also playing in what is essentially a final for us and we know that we need to pitch up on the day and deliver a quality 80-minute performance to emerge victorious.”
Springboks: Damian Willemse; Cheslin Kolbe, Lukhanyo Am, Damian de Allende, Makazole Mapimpi; Handre Pollard, Jaden Hendrikse; Jasper Wiese, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi (captain), Lood de Jager, Eben Etzebeth, Frans Malherbe, Bongi Mbonambi, Trevor Nyakane.
Replacements: Malcolm Marx, Steven Kitshoff, Vincent Koch, Franco Mostert, Kwagga Smith, Elrigh Louw, Faf de Klerk, Willie le Roux.
The test will be shown live on SS Rugby at 05:05pm CAT (GMT+2).
Springbok record against Wales:
Played 39, Won 31, Lost 7, Drawn 1, Points for 990, Points against 627, Tries scored 115, Tries conceded 52, Highest score 96, Biggest win 83 Points, Win % 79.
Milestones:
- Saturday’s Test against Wales will mark only the second between the two sides in Cape Town.
- The Springboks need to score 11 points to reach 1000 points against Wales.
- Eben Etzebeth will play in his 100th Test match for South Africa and Bongi Mbonambi his 50th.
- Handre Pollard is the current record holder for most penalty goals against Wales (19), in just seven appearances. Percy Montgomery scored a second best of 10 penalty goals in his nine appearances against Wales.
- Pollard is one of only three Springboks to pull off a drop goal in a Test match against Wales. He kicked a drop goal at Twickenham in London in 2015 (in the RWC quarter-final), while the other players were Hansie Brewis in 1951 in Cardiff, and Lionel Wilson in 1964 in Durban.
Miscellaneous:
- The total Test caps for the Springbok starting line-up is 654.
- There are 212 caps in the backline with 442 caps amongst the forwards. On the bench there are a further 99 caps.
- The average caps per player in the backline are 30, the forwards 55, while the players on the bench average 40.