The Springbok selection against the All Blacks in Wellington may have caught a lot of people by surprise, and it may be bold, but there is a method in the madness.
It isn’t often a Bok side in the last seven years has not featured the likes of double World Cup winners Handre Pollard, Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende and the most capped Springbok of all time - Eben Etzebeth. But that’s what Rassie Erasmus has named for the return game in Wellington this weekend.
The bold, rather surprising selection may be partly going on the energy of the Bok fightback and an eye on 2027, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if it was partly also as a message to some of the older players in the squad that the youngsters are biting at their heels.
🗣️ "If we don't win this game we probably out of the Championship so it's a big ask for the players."
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) September 8, 2025
Rassie Erasmus on naming his team on a Monday and selecting a number of young starters for this weekend's clash with the All Blacks.#SSRugby | #TheRugbyChampionship pic.twitter.com/ljscq7AgtA
Erasmus said the selection wasn’t totally as a result of the loss at Eden Park, but rather with an eye on the future as well.
“Firstly, I think it would have been paradise if we won last weekend and we still could have made the changes, which was the plan. Not a lot of players get the opportunity to play New Zealand and after this game we probably only have the year of the World Cup where we're playing them away. So the plan was to try and win and then also give some guys the pressure of playing against one of the top teams currently in the world,” Erasmus explained.
“Maybe not so many changes would have been made, but definitely we would have made changes. It's not so much fresh legs, it's making sure we get some guys under the pressure of playing a team like that and hopefully learn from that for the next three years until the World Cup.”
The changes - six of which are from last weekend’s match day 23 - sees a new look halfback combination of Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Cobus Reinach, who both starred off the bench last weekend. Then there is a new midfield combo of Damian Willemse and Canan Moodie, a new starting winger in Ethan Hooker and a new fullback in Aphelele Fassi. Together they mostly represent the future of the Bok team and a backline that is more aligned to play Tonyball - the attacking game of Tony Brown, the assistant coach.
A number of changes to the Springbok backline this weekend 👀
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) September 8, 2025
The likes of Hooker, Fassi, Willemse, Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Reinach all get a start 💥
Full reaction video from @MattP555 and @hshimmi is on YouTube 🇿🇦#SSRugby | #TheRugbyChampionship pic.twitter.com/GIm2Qt7EoX
Rassie added that it wasn’t so much influenced by the bad parts of the Auckland loss, but rather at the positives.
“I think we all know there were a lot of guys that didn't play well and there's a lot of coaches that didn't coach well last week, including myself. So I think if I have to look at the positives, the game ended almost like the World Cup, that Ireland pool match where we clawed ourselves back into the game and we didn't score at the end,” he explained.
“I thought the guys that came on brought a lot of energy and brought a lot of fight, which after 15 minutes we were 14-0 down and then they only scored another 10 points, which is irrelevant, we lost the game and that's the bottom line. But I do think the energy that the guys who came on maybe changed my mind and to think ‘let's get some energetic guys onto the field who've never played here before.
“I think we're still two in the world, so we win this game, we're back in the Rugby Championship mix and we're still alright in the World Rankings. So it's a bit of both, obviously some players, like some coaches, some of us disappointed, but I don't think it was through a lack of trying though
𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆: Rassie Erasmus has made a number of changes to the Springbok team that will face the All Blacks in Wellington this Saturday 🇿🇦🚨#SSRugby | #TheRugbyChampionship pic.twitter.com/9LrbZR7rXL
— SuperSport Rugby (@SSRugby) September 8, 2025
“The first thing was, it felt to me like the Ireland test in the World Cup pool, where we fought very well. I think at the end of the game, there was a lot of whipping in the match, and then it was over. But no compensation in any way that we cost ourselves the game, and that we weren't where we needed to be.”
That energy was also the reason why Lood de Jager replaces Etzebeth at lock while Jasper Wiese’s inevitable return from his suspension gives the Boks a big ball carrier at the back of the scrum.
Erasmus again opted for a split of five forwards and three backs on the replacements’ bench, where Marnus van der Merwe (hooker), Jan-Hendrik Wessels and Wilco Louw (props), RG Snyman (lock) and Kwagga Smith (loose forward) will provide further forward cover. The backs on the bench are halfbacks Grant Williams, Manie Libbok, and centre Andre Esterhuizen.
The Bok coach said they are expecting another epic encounter against their arch rivals: “Both teams will be up for the challenge this week after having to cope with heavy rain at times in Auckland, and after the disappointing performance we delivered in the opening stages of that match, we know we need to be much more effective in all departments this week and produce a performance both us and our supporters can be proud of.
“We need a top-class performance to ensure that we are in contention to win the Castle Lager Rugby Championship.
“We know where we went wrong last week and what we must fix, and we’ll leave no stone unturned to fix those errors. There’s no doubt that we have to deliver a proper 80-minute performance to do well, and we will give everything to achieve that.”
The match kicks off at 09h05 (SA time) and will be broadcast live on SuperSport.
Springbok team to face the All Blacks in Wellington:
15 Aphelele Fassi (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 14 caps, 35 points (7t)
14 Cheslin Kolbe (Tokyo Sungoliath) – 43 caps, 111 points (18t, 3c, 5p)
13 Canan Moodie (Vodacom Bulls) – 17 caps, 40 pts (8t)
12 Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers) – 42 caps, 61 points (5t, 9c, 4p, 2 dg)
11 Ethan Hooker (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 2 caps, 0 points
10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (DHL Stormers) – 12 caps, 58 points (17c, 8p)
9 Cobus Reinach (DHL Stormers) – 43 caps, 75 pts (15t)
8 Jasper Wiese (Urayasu D-Rocks) – 36 caps, 10 points (2t)
7 Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz) – 90 caps, 60 pts (12t)
6 Siya Kolisi (captain, Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 95 caps, 65 points (13t)
5 Ruan Nortje (Vodacom Bulls) – 10 caps, 0 pts
4 Lood de Jager (Wild Knights) – 70 caps, 25 points (5t)
3 Thomas du Toit (Bath) – 27 caps, 5 pts (1t)
2 Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) – 81 caps, 120 pts (24t)
1 Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 44 caps, 0 pts
Replacements:
16 Marnus van der Merwe (Scarlets) – 2 caps, 10 points (2t)
17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Vodacom Bulls) – 6 caps, 10 pts (2t)
18 Wilco Louw (Vodacom Bulls) – 21 caps, 0 pts
19 RG Snyman (Leinster) – 43 caps, 10 points (2t)
20 Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs) – 56 caps, 50 points (10t)
21 Grant Williams (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 22 caps, 25 pts (5t)
22 Manie Libbok (Kintetsu Liners) – 21 caps, 115 pts (1t, 37c, 12p)
23 Andre Esterhuizen (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 22 caps, 5 pts (1t)
Stats and facts:
Springbok record against New Zealand:
Played: 109, Won: 42, Lost: 63, Drawn: 4. Points for: 1 807; Points against: 2 259; Tries scored: 175; Tries conceded: 247. Win per cent: 38.6 per cent.
Miscellaneous:
Should the Springboks win the match, they will retain the Freedom Cup against New Zealand, which they won for the first time last year since 2009.
The last time the teams met at the Sky Stadium was in 2019, where they played to a 16-16 draw, with the Boks winning the previous encounter between the sides 36-34 at the stadium.
Springbok flanker Siya Kolisi will play his 96th test match, leaving him only four matches short of becoming the ninth Springbok centurion in the history of the game. He will lead South Africa for the 64th time.
Jasper Wiese will return to the Springbok team for the first time since the team’s 45-0 victory against Italy in Gqeberha after serving a four-match suspension.
The total test caps in the Springbok starting line-up is 626. There are 173 caps in the backline, with 453 caps among the forwards. On the bench, there are a further 193 caps.
The average caps per player in the backline is 25, the forwards 57, while the players on the bench average 24.