After fielding what looked more like a second string team than a first string in their last game in Perth, Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has returned to a more full strength team - but with variations to what would have been anticipated a few weeks ago.
For a start, the team announcement on Tuesday has confirmed the bad news that the Boks will be going into their first of two home Castle Lager Rugby Championship tests against New Zealand without their star tight forward and enforcer, Eben Etzebeth.
Assistant coach Deon Davids hinted on Monday that Etzebeth might struggle to be over a niggle in time to be selected.
That has now been confirmed through the team announcement, as has the fact that Pieter-Steph du Toit, has been moved from blindside flank into Etzebeth’s No 4 jersey as the fellow double World Cup winners replacement.
Du Toit did excel at No 5 lock against Australia in Brisbane and of course that was where he started his career for the Boks.
But this is the first time that Du Toit will be fulfilling the tighter so-called front lock role, with Ruan Nortje, who was solid in the middle of the lineout in the second half of the Perth game against the Wallabies, continuing at No 5.
𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚: Rassie Erasmus names his Springbok team to face the All Blacks at Emirates Airline Park this Saturday 🇿🇦🚨 pic.twitter.com/ZhvGWf7hYZ
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) August 27, 2024
INJURY CRISIS
In normal circumstances Salmaan Moerat, who captained last time, would have taken the No 4 jersey as that is his specialist position.
However, the Stormers skipper was concussed in Perth and is still going through the return to play protocols.
And RG Snyman, who everyone hoped would be ready to take up the other second row position, has a foot injury that is expected to keep him out for some time.
With Jean Kleyn, part of the World Cup squad last year, and Lood de Jager and Franco Mostert also still missing from action, it is no understatement that the Boks are facing a lock crisis.
However, it has often been said that the second row is one area where the Boks always have a bottomless pit of wealth, and this is a chance to see if that is true.
With Du Toit deployed on the flank, there is another opportunity for Ben-Jason Dixon, with the young loose-forward getting his first exposure to the All Blacks.
Unlike many of the other older Boks, Dixon did not play in the Super Rugby era so this will be his first experience of fronting the Kiwi approach at senior level.
APHELELE AT FULLBACK
The surprises do not end at lock though, and possibly neither do the injuries, with Willie le Roux not in the match day squad.
Instead Aphelele Fassi, who has been excellent in the games he’s played for the Boks this season, starting at fullback.
🗣️ "Go and show the people what you can do and why you're here!"
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Rassie Erasmus on the continuous development of Aphelele Fassi this year 📈 pic.twitter.com/vdpiH0JbNu
And another relative newcomer, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, continues at flyhalf.
There might have been an expectation for Erasmus to return the experienced double World Cup winner Handre Pollard to the No 10 jersey in the hope he might repeat the performance he produced at Emirates Airlines Park 10 years ago when he announced himself on the international stage as a 20-year-old in a similar game against the All Blacks.
That was in fact the last occasion the Boks beat the Kiwis at the Johannesburg venue.
That Erasmus is sticking with the 22-year-old Feinberg-Mngomezulu is an indication that the youngster has done enough in his games in the green and gold to build the coach’s faith, and presumably that of the attack and backline coach Tony Brown too.
Of course, like in the two games in Australia, Erasmus has the safety net provided by Pollard being on the bench.
The regular centres return to the midfield, with Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel building further on their record partnership there for the Boks, while the two wings, Cheslin Kolbe and Kurt-Lee Arendse, are the two players you’d have expected on the wing, although in time Canan Moodie will surely come into strong consideration.
WIESE STARTS IN HIS RETURN
Given that Du Toit had to switch, the back row is also what you would have expected, with Jasper Wiese back at No 8 for the first time this season after serving his suspension.
Ditto the front row, which is made up of World Cup winners in Ox Nche, Bongi Mbonambi and Frans Malherbe, and backed up by the outstanding potential game changer Malcolm Marx at hooker as well as Gerhard Steenekamp and double World Cup winner Vincent Koch.
There is no lock cover on the bench, which is presumably an indication that the position will be covered by Dixon, who has played lock for the Stormers.
Erasmus has returned to what for him is the anticipated six/two split between forwards and backs on the bench after going 5:3 last time out.
Cobus Reinach starts at scrumhalf and he and Grant Williams of the Sharks, who is on the bench, look more and more like the halfbacks that the coaches believe are best suited to the higher tempo approach the Boks are moving at the start of the new World Cup cycle.
SPRINGBOK TEAM: Aphelele Fassi, Cheslin Kolbe, Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Cobus Reinach, Jasper Wiese, Ben-Jason Dixon, Siya Kolisi (captain), Ruan Nortje, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Frans Malherbe, Bongi Mbonambi, Ox Nche.
Replacements: Malcolm Marx, Gerhard Steenekamp, Vincent Koch, Marco van Staden, Elrigh Louw, Kwagga Smith, Grant Williams, Handre Pollard.