Nations Championship news: Springboks recall heavy hitters for England showdown
Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus named an experienced and dynamic match 23 on Monday for their opening inaugural Nations Championship clash with England at Ellis Park.
The Boks’ most notable combinations are back, led by Siya Kolisi who captains his 72nd Test and Manie Libbok at fly-half, who’s back to dictate proceedings in Johannesburg.
Outside-back stars Cheslin Kolbe and Damian Willemse both earn their 50th Test caps, further highlighting the importance the Springboks have put on this fixture.
Transferring effort into results
“England are a quality outfit, and we are expecting them to give everything they have in this match, so it was important to select a squad with experience combined with a few younger players, who have proved that they have what it takes to perform at this level,” Erasmus said, quoted on SA Rugby.
“The players have worked very hard at training, and they know what it takes to perform against a side of this calibre with a good coaching team, so we hope they can transfer that effort onto the field on Saturday.
“It was great to have a run against the Barbarians and Zimbabwe last week because it afforded some of our players some valuable game time, but this weekend will be a different prospect altogether.
Stalwart stars
On Kolbe and Willemse, Erasmus said: “They have both been stalwarts for us over the years, and as a team we would like to make it a memorable day for them.
“It’s not every day you have two players playing their 50th Test, so that will certainly add to our motivation this week.
“That said, England will come to Johannesburg as determined as ever, so it’s going to be a hard grind of a match, which will require us to be accurate in every facet of the game, and convert the opportunities we create into points.
“But they will have the same mindset, so we need to hit the ground running if we want to do well,” Erasmus concluded.
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Springbok 23 to face England
15 Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers) – 49 caps
14 Cheslin Kolbe (Suntory Sungoliath*) – 49 caps
13 Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles) – 87 caps
12 Damian de Allende (Wild Knights) – 97 caps
11 Kurt-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls*) – 30 caps
10 Manie Libbok (Kintetsu Liners) – 28 caps
9 Grant Williams (Hollywoodbets Sharks*) – 28 caps
8 Jasper Wiese (Urayasu D-Rocks) – 44 caps
7 Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz) – 95 caps
6 Siya Kolisi (captain, Hollywoodbets Sharks*) – 103 caps
5 Ruan Nortje (Vodacom Bulls*) – 18 caps
4 Eben Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 141 caps
3 Thomas du Toit (Bath*) – 32 caps
2 Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) – 87 caps
1 Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 47 caps
Replacements:
16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Vodacom Bulls) – 9 caps
17 Gerhard Steenekamp (Vodacom Bulls) – 16 caps
18 Zach Porthen (DHL Stormers) – 3 caps
19 Marco van Staden (Vodacom Bulls) – 33 caps
20 Cameron Hanekom (Vodacom Bulls) – 1 cap
21 Cobus Reinach (DHL Stormers) – 50 caps
22 Andre Esterhuizen (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 29 caps
23 Canan Moodie (Vodacom Bulls) – 23 caps
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