Jesse Kriel will lead the Springboks against the Barbarians in the Qatar Airways Cup at the DHL Stadium on Saturday after coach Rassie Erasmus was forced to make a late change to his team on Friday, following the withdrawal of Siya Kolisi due to a niggle.
Late change to the #Springboks team as Siya Kolisi is ruled out, with Jesse Kriel taking the captaincy against the @Barbarian_FC in Cape Town tomorrow 🤝#ForeverGreenForeverGold
— Springboks (@Springboks) June 27, 2025
Marco van Staden has been drafted straight into the starting line-up as a replacement for Kolisi and will partner up with Vincent Tshituka and Jean-Luc du Preez in the loose trio, with the rest of the squad remaining as announced by Erasmus on Tuesday.
This will be the first time Kriel will lead the Springboks. He made his debut for South Africa in 2015 has played in 79 tests.
The match kicks off at 17h10 and will be broadcast live on SuperSport.
Springbok team to face the Barbarians in Cape Town:
15 Aphelele Fassi (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 11 caps, 35 points (7t) :
14 Cheslin Kolbe (Tokyo Sungoliath) – 40 caps, 111 points (18t, 3c, 5p) :
13 Jesse Kriel (captain, Canon Eagles) – 79 caps, 90 points (18t) :
12 Damian de Allende (Wild Knights) – 87 caps, 55 points (11t) :
11 Kurt-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls) – 24 caps, 90 points (18t) :
10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (DHL Stormers) – 8 caps, 52 points (14c, 48p) :
9 Morne van den Berg (Emirates Lions) – 2 caps, 0 points:
8 Jean-Luc du Preez (Sale Sharks) – 14 caps 10 points (2t) :
7 Vincent Tshituka (Hollywoodbets Sharks) - uncapped:
6 Marco van Staden (Vodacom Bulls) – 25 caps, 10 points (2t) :
5 Lood de Jager (Wild Knights) – 66 caps, 25 points (5t) :
4 Jean Kleyn (Munster) – 7 caps, 0 points:
3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye (Emirates Lions) – uncapped:
2 Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) – 76 caps, 105 points (21t) :
1 Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 39 caps, 0 points Replacements: 16 Marnus van der Merwe (Scarlets) - uncapped:
17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Vodacom Bulls) – 3 caps, 5 points (1t) :
18 Neethling Fouche (DHL Stormers) - uncapped:
19 Franco Mostert (Honda Heat) – 78 caps, 20 points (4t) :
20 Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs) – 51 caps, 45 points (9t) :
21 Cobus Reinach (Montpellier) – 39 caps, 70 pts (14t) :
22 Manie Libbok (DHL Stormers) – 19 caps, 98 pts (1t, 30c, 11p) :
23 Andre Esterhuizen (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 19 caps, 0 points