Category: Springboks

Rassie has started to rate Andre Esterhuizen much higher of recent. So much so that he has named him as captain of the Boks against Australia in Perth – even though Handre Pollard and Eben Etzebeth are both in the starting team.

The team has been rotated heavily but Rassie has still kept his best front row plus Lood de Jager and Jasper Wiese on the bench for just in case. I would have much rather had Cameron Hanekom starting at 8 than Marco van Staden. The Aussies have some very fast loose forwards with Fraser McReight and Harry Wilson up there with the best jacklers in the world.

Rassie has kept the changes to a minimum with Damian Willemse coming back in for the injured Cheslin Kolbe and Morné van den Berg swapping places with Cobus Reinach. I would have liked Manie Libbok at 10 – the Bok attack just looked so much better with him running the show. Van den Berg really tried to cover every blade of grass (in attack and defense) when he came on – will be interesting to see how he paces himself over a longer period.

Rassie made only one injury enforced change to the team for the third test. Cheslin Kolbe moves to full back while Kurt-Lee Arendse comes back into the team at wing.

This is in effect another must win game for the Boks as they would not want to lose the SA leg of the tour to the All Blacks. The Springboks showed major improvement from the first game. The maul worked really well, they did manage to get points from their 22 visits, Eben and co disrupted their lineout a number of times, the Boks won the high ball battle (Ethan Hooker was outstanding) and the Bok defense mostly ensured that the All Blacks did not have their own way on attack.

Cheslin Kolbe and Grant Williams (would probably have been dropped anyway) are out with injury – so Ethan Hooker and Cobus Reinach starts. SFM (also had a poor match overall) is dropped to the bench and Pollard starts the crunch match for the Boks.

Deon Fourie is on the bench as hooker – a selection that will raise eyebrows but he did trouble the All Blacks in their game against the Stormers. Thomas du Toit and Lood de Jager will add some scrumming power and old heads later in the game.

Rassie has picked a very strong starting team for the All Blacks. The strongest available scrumming front row of Louw, Marx and Nche has been picked – question is will the refs reward the Bok scrum? Andre Esterhuizen has been picked in the hybrid bench role with SFM preferred ahead of Libbok.

Rassie has kept 12 players back in SA to train with Tony Brown. He is using the test in Argentina to give players returning from injury a game before the All Black games start. Both Lood de Jager and Eben Etzebeth have copped long bans plus injury layoffs – so expect at least one to play no more than 50 minutes. Andre Esterhuizen, Ethan Hooker, Morne van den Berg, Sacha FM and Siya Kolisi all return from injury either having little game time or no Bok games this season.

Rassie has picked Shark youngsters Vusi Moyo and Jaco Williams for the game against Wales. Ruben van Heerden and Carlu Sadie also made their debuts in the pack. PSDT is captaining the team from 7 but Ruan Nortje gets a welcome rest. Herschel Jantjies having played last in 2023 for the Boks gets another chance off the bench.

Rassie has made wholesale changes from the team that klapped England last week. He is very cleverly using the Nations Championship as a way to expand his squad and test different combinations.

Damian Willemse (who had a stellar game at fullback) is shifted to inside centre. Had he not suffered a concussion against England, Andre Esterhuizen would probably have started at inside centre in this match. Bulls duo Handre Pollard and Embrose Papier will run the game at half back. It is rumoured that Canan Moodie is now also out injured and Ethan Hooker may make an early return to the team at 11.

Jaco Williams and Zekhethelo Siyaya will feature on the wing for the A Team against Zimbabwe. Old head Lukhanyo Am will feature in the back line next to all the youngsters. Phepsi Buthelezi and Emmanuel Tshituka joins Bathobele Hlekani in the back row, while Vincent Tshituka will captain the team from the lock position. Hanro Jacobs and Jurenzo Julius should feature later in the game.

I have no idea what the quality of the Zimbabwean team is like although they have qualified for the 2027 World Cup. Given that most of these A team players (even 18 year old Markus Muller and Zekhethelo Siyaya) have experience in the URC / Champions Cup one should expect the SA A team to dominate this game.

Rassie keeps making unexpected selections – this time Quan Horn will feature at 10 for the Boks against the Barbarians. Good to see Aphelele Fassi back at 15 with Andre Esterhuizen and Jesse Kriel forming a strong running and tackling pair in midfield. The pack is generally very experienced with two rookies in Andre-Hugo Venter and Riley Norton. Also glad to see Vusi Moyo on the bench. Cheslin Kolbe will be the designated place kicker in the team.

The Barbarians have selected some quality players such as Kellaway, van der Merwe, Albornoz, Perenara and Petty.