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Wiese adds physicality to back row as Boks go for broke

rugby27 July 2021 11:15| © SuperSport
By:Gavin Rich
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Jasper Wiese © Gallo Images

Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber has stuck largely with the match day 23 that did duty in the first test loss to the British and Irish Lions but he has made three changes to his starting team for Saturday’s must win second test at Cape Town Stadium.


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After losing 22-17 in the series opener at the same venue last week, the Boks have to win the second game if they want to keep the contest alive and make the following game a decider. So it’s very much a case of all or nothing for Nienaber and his team and he will have made his selections with that in mind.

Leicester Tigers loose-forward Jasper Wiese comes into the starting team for his first international start at No8 - he did make his debut in the warm-up test against Georgia - ahead of Kwagga Smith, who drops to the bench.

Wiese's selection will be driven by the need to add the physicality off the back of the scrum that Duane Vermeulen brought at the World Cup. The injured Vermeulen is clearly still struggling with his rehab as he does not appear in the match 23, something that does hurt the Bok chances of salvaging the series.

Nienaber has also opted to go with the two props who finished last week, Steven Kitshoff and Frans Malherbe, in the starting team for the second test.

There are two players who were part of last week’s match day 23 who miss out on selection for this game. Elton Jantjies was the back-up flyhalf last week but is sacrificed for the need to return to the six/two split between forwards and backs on the bench, meaning the proper Bomb Squad, that was such a positive factor for the Boks in their winning of the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

The Bok coach did admit when he chose the more traditional five/three split for the first test that it was driven by the need to cover certain players who had not had that much game time. Jantjies’ omission and the reversion to six/two can be seen as an indication that first choice flyhalf and team vice-captain Handre Pollard is now ready to go the full 80 minutes.

With just two backs on the bench, Nienaber has moved the versatile Damian Willemse into the role Frans Steyn performed in Japan, meaning he is covering all the outside back positions.

The other bench player from last week to drop out of the squad for this game is reserve loose-forward Rynhardt Elstadt. He makes way for the selection of Marco van Staden, which means that the Boks will have two players who play to the ball on the bench.

Skipper Siya Kolisi turned in one of his best performances in the first test and should benefit from the game time he was given but the presence of two fetchers on the bench means he can empty the tank in the knowledge that he probably won’t be going the full 80 minutes this time.

It is a good call to keep Smith in the 23 for although he made some costly mistakes in the first test, he delivered a good all-round performance, as was demonstrated by the post-match statistics. He is the perfect kind of player to have coming onto the field when you need to lift tempo, which will probably be the case for the Boks in the second half because, while their match fitness should be better because of the mileage clocked last week, the Lions should still be their most dangerous in the last part of the game.

Not only will Van Staden and Smith be tasked with the role of trying to quicken up the Bok recycles of possession, they will also be expected to slow down the Lions’ ball.

The return of Kitshoff and Malherbe might raise some eyebrows due to the fact that they didn’t seem to make an impact when they came on for the second half in the first test, while the starting front row that featured Ox Nche and Trevor Nyakane achieved scrumming dominance. However, both Kitshoff and Malherbe are experienced, quality players and their determination to set what happened last week right, something that Kitshoff vowed to do in a media conference on Monday, could just work for the Boks.

Nche is carrying a bit of a neck strain and missed out selection. Hooker Bongi Mbonambi will be the only front row forward to have started both tests.

Springbok team: Willie le Roux, Cheslin Kolbe, Lukhanyo Am, Damian de Allende, Makazole Mapimpi, Handre Pollard, Faf de Klerk, Jasper Wiese, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi (captain), Franco Mostert, Eben Etzebeth, Frans Malherbe, Bongi Mbonambi, Steven Kitshoff.

Replacements: Malcolm Marx, Trevor Nyakane, Vincent Koch, Lood de Jager, Marco van Staden, Kwagga Smith, Herschel Jantjies, Damian Willemse.

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