Pieter-Steph du Toit the man for the Springboks’ lock crisis as Aphelele Fassi starts at No 15
The Springboks’ have moved Pieter-Steph du Toit into the second row for their Rugby Championship Test against the All Blacks at Ellis Park on Saturday.
The Springboks have a crisis at lock after the vastly experienced Eben Etzebeth was ruled out of the Test with a back injury, while RG Snyman (foot) and Salmaan Moerat (concussion) were also not considered. The other locks unavailable for selection are Franco Mostert (broken leg), Lood de Jager (shoulder) and Jean Kleyn (eye and knee).
Du Toit will wear the No 4 jersey and partner Ruan Nortje in the second row. Ben-Jason Dixon will play in the No 7 jersey on the side of the scrum, but will also cover lock against the All Blacks.
Jasper Wiese makes his first appearances of the season and will start in the No 8 jersey after serving a suspension. The Springboks also have three loose forwards on the bench, as Rassie Erasmus has decided to go with a 6-2 split in favour of the forwards amongst the substitutes.
Aphelele Fassi gets the nod at fullback ahead of Willie le Roux following his polished performances against Wales, Portugal and in the last Test against the Wallabies.
“It’s not ideal that we have so many injuries at lock, but we are pleased with the way Ruan stood his man in our last match and we are confident that he’ll combine well with Pieter-Steph at lock,” said Erasmus.
“This will serve as a fantastic opportunity for him to prove what he can do against one of the best teams in the world.
“It’s also good to have a player of Jasper’s calibre back and we know that he’ll bring a lot of energy on attack and defence after biding his time to return to the field, and we are looking forward to seeing his physicality combined with the rest of the back row.
“We also have a settled backline, and Aphelele made a strong statement against the Wallabies in Perth, so we are excited to see what they have to offer against a heavily attack-orientated All Black backline.
“We’ve seen what most of these players can do under pressure in Australia, and we’re confident that they’ll want to build on that against the All Blacks.”
In the backline, Cobus Reinach and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu reunite at halfback, while Erasmus recalled Damian de Allende to partner Jesse Kriel at centre, with Kurt-Lee Arendse also back in the team, linking up with Cheslin Kolbe and Fassi in the back three.
Erasmus’ bench will see Malcolm Marx, Gerhard Steenekamp and Vincent Koch in the replacement front row, while Elrigh Louw, Marco van Staden and the energetic Kwagga Smith will offer the team solid loose forward cover options.
The two backline players on the bench are Grant Williams and Handre Pollard, who offer an array of options, covering scrumhalf, wing, centre and flyhalf between them.
Wiese was deemed match ready, having been training with the team since the beginning of June at the first training camp in Pretoria, while Erasmus opted to give Steven Kitshoff (prop), Canan Moodie (wing), Jaden Hendrikse (scrumhalf) and Nicolaas Janse van Rensburg (lock) more time to adjust to the new structures.
The Bok coach was confident that the lock injury situation would ease in the next week and said: “Eben may have been ready to play this week if we really needed him, but we feel we will benefit more from selecting a player that is 100% fit, and Salmaan should also be back in selection frame next week after following the return to play protocols.
“We’re happy that things will ease significantly for us in that department going into the second Test.”
Springbok team to face New Zealand in Johannesburg:
15 – Aphelele Fassi – 6 caps
14 – Cheslin Kolbe – 35 caps
13 – Jesse Kriel – 73 caps
12 – Damian de Allende – 82 caps
11 – Kurt-Lee Arendse – 19 caps
10 – Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu – 6 caps
9 – Cobus Reinach – 34 caps
8 – Jasper Wiese – 27 caps
7 – Ben-Jason Dixon – 3 caps
6 – Siya Kolisi – 86 caps
5 – Ruan Nortje – 2 caps
4 – Pieter-Steph du Toit – 81 caps
3 – Frans Malherbe – 73 caps
2 – Bongi Mbonambi – 72 caps
1 – Ox Nche – 33 caps
Replacements:
16 – Malcolm Marx – 69 caps
17 – Gerhard Steenekamp – 4 caps
18 – Vincent Koch – 54 caps
19 – Marco van Staden – 22 caps
20 – Elrigh Louw – 6 caps
21 – Kwagga Smith – 45 caps
22 – Grant Williams – 13 caps
23 – Handre Pollard – 73 caps
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