Springboks Head Coach Jacques Neinaber has named his squad to take on the All Blacks, in their 2023 Rugby Championship round two clash. There are numerous high-profile stars returning to the squad, with lock Eben Etzebeth set to captain the side after returning from a shoulder injury.
South Africa look to carry on with their winning momentum, after defeating the Wallabies with what Australia Head Coach Eddie Jones referred to as a ‘half-baked’ Springboks side. Jones stormed out of the post-match press conference, after his first game in charge of the Wallabies ended in a 43-12 ‘Boks win.
Jones told a reporter to “show some respect” and to not be a “smart arse”, after pressing questions about losing to a supposed ‘Springboks B-team’. South Africa are certainly not running out a ‘B-team’ against the All Blacks, with a stacked squad announced for this Saturday’s match in Auckland.
Nienaber had previously named 10 players for the seismic test match, as a predominant group of 2019 Rugby World Cup winners travelled to New Zealand last week, to acclimatise and overcome the jet lag for this weekend. Nine of the ten will start against the All Blacks, including locks Etzebeth and Lood de Jager and back-rowers Kwagga Smith, Franco Mostert and Jasper Wiese.
In the backline, wingers Makazole Mapimpi and Cheslin Kolbe also start, along with World-Cup winning centre partnership of Damian de Allende and Lukhanyo Am. Hooker Malcolm Marx also travelled to New Zealand in advance, and will be on the bench.
“We planned to select a squad with a few key combinations of players who are fully acclimatised and settled in in New Zealand, while also selecting some players who started last week, and we are pleased with the balance we were able to strike with this squad,” Nienaber said to the Springboks website.
“This allows us to give some players their first taste of international rugby this season alongside a group of players who come off a physical clash against the Wallabies, and we believe this will be beneficial against a top opponent in the All Blacks.
“The fact that we can give a few other players in the bigger squad a run this weekend is fantastic as we want to give as many players as possible game time with an eye on doing well in the Castle Lager Rugby Championship and further ahead in the Rugby World Cup.”
On Etzebeth’s return, Nienaber said: “Eben has been working very hard in the last few months to make a full recovery from his shoulder injury and it’s great to see him return to the field in this important fixture. He’s a vastly experienced player with 110 Test caps, he’s captained the Springboks before and he has been with the group of players in New Zealand for over a week, so he is the ideal person to lead the team this weekend.”
Etzebeth will make his 13th test as Springboks captain, following the prolonged injury absence of Siya Kolisi. Etzebeth’s last Test as captain was on 20th July 2019 against Australia, in the Rugby Championship at the Emirates Airline Park in Johannesburg.
Springbok team to face New Zealand
15 – Willie le Roux (Vodacom Bulls) – 84 caps
14 – Cheslin Kolbe (Suntory Sungoliath) – 23 caps
13 – Lukhanyo Am (Cell C Sharks) – 32 caps
12 – Damian de Allende (Panasonic Wild Knights) – 70 Tests
11 – Makazole Mapimpi (Cell C Sharks) – 36 caps
10 – Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers) – 28 caps
9 – Faf de Klerk (Canon Eagles) – 46 Tests
8 – Jasper Wiese (Leicester) – 20 caps
7 – Franco Mostert (Honda Heat) – 63 caps
6 – Kwagga Smith (Blue Revs) – 31 caps
5 – Lood de Jager (Panasonic Wild Knights) – 65 caps
4 – Eben Etzebeth (captain, Cell C Sharks) – 110 caps
3 – Frans Malherbe (DHL Stormers) – 59 caps
2 – Bongi Mbonambi (Cell C Sharks) – 57 caps
1 – Steven Kitshoff (Ulster) – 72 caps
Replacements:
16 – Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) – 59 caps
17 – Thomas du Toit (Bath) – 16 caps
18 – Vincent Koch (Cell C Sharks) – 42 caps
19 – RG Snyman (Munster) – 24 caps
20 – Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz) – 67 caps
21 – Duane Vermeulen (SA Rugby) – 66 caps
22 – Grant Williams (Cell C Sharks) – 2 caps
23 – Manie Libbok (DHL Stormers) – 4 caps