First Test start for Grant Williams as Springboks make nine changes

Jacques Nienaber has named a Springboks side to face Argentina this Saturday in Johannesburg that shows nine changes from the XV that lost 20-35 to New Zealand in Auckland. That 15-point loss has left South Africa in need of a favour from Australia earlier in the day in Melbourne if the Rugby Championship title is to be still up for grabs by the time they take on the Pumas.

Four of the Springboks' changes are in the backline, with Manie Libbok chosen to start at out-half in place of the benched Damian Willemse. He will partner Grant Williams, who has been handed his first Test-start with Faf de Klerk slipping to a bench where the backs/forwards split has been recalibrated from two/six to three/five.

The other two backline alterations see Jesse Kriel given a start at outside centre in place of Lukhanyo Am, who is named on the bench, while Kurt-Lee Arendse, a hat-trick scorer in the Rugby Championship opener against Australia, will start in place of the omitted Makazole Mapimpi.

Up front, there is a complete back row reshuffle with skipper Duane Vermeulen named alongside Pieter-Steph du Toit and Marco van Staden. Kwagga Smith drops to the bench with Franco Mostert and Jasper Wiese omitted.

The remaining two changes are Malcolm Marx at hooker for the benched Bongi Mbonambi while lock Marvin Orie takes the place of Lood de Jager. Meanwhile, on the bench, Trevor Nyakane is promoted with Thomas du Toit missing out.

Head coach Nienaber said: “This is a quality team that will offer us the skills we need against Argentina. It also contains a good balance of experience and youth, which is vital as we build toward the Rugby World Cup. There are only four more matches before we kick off our Rugby World Cup campaign, so it’s a fine balancing act to give all the players a chance to stake a claim for places while selecting teams that we believe are best equipped for the opposition we will face and we are pleased with the way we have managed that process up to now.

“Obviously the result in New Zealand was bitterly disappointing, but we came into the season with a plan that will hopefully allow us to select the best possible squad for the World Cup and peak at the right time.

“The Pumas showed in their last two games that they can be a force to be reckoned with, so we have to be sharp from the get-go, be accurate in our execution on attack and defence, and use the opportunities we create. They pride themselves on their set pieces, they are very dangerous at exploiting your mistakes, and they never stop fighting which makes them a challenging opponent.

“But that said, we know where we went wrong in our last match, and we are determined to correct the wrongs from that day and get our season back on track. We are anticipating a hard-fought battle and we know we need to be focused for the full 80 minutes, but we are ready to go out there and give everything.”

Springboks (vs Argentina – Saturday):

15. Willie le Roux (Vodacom Bulls) – 85 caps, 65 pts (13t)

14. Cheslin Kolbe (Suntory Sungoliath) – 24 caps, 81 pts (12t, 3c, 5p)

13. Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles) – 59 caps, 60 pts (12t)

12. Damian de Allende (Panasonic Wild Knights) – 71 caps, 45 pts (9t)

11. Kurt-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls) – 8 caps, 50 pts (10t)

10. Manie Libbok (DHL Stormers) – 5 caps, 19 pts (8c, 1p)

9. Grant Williams (Cell C Sharks) – 3 caps, 0 pts

1. Steven Kitshoff (Ulster) – 73 caps, 10 pts (2t)

2. Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) – 60 caps, 75 pts (15t)

3. Frans Malherbe (DHL Stormers) – 60 caps, 5 pts (1t)

4. Eben Etzebeth (Cell C Sharks) – 111 caps, 20 pts (4t)

5. Marvin Orie (DHL Stormers) – 12 caps, 0 pts

6. Marco van Staden (Vodacom Bulls) – 11 caps, 0 pts

7. Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz) – 68 caps, 30 pts (6t)

8. Duane Vermeulen (captain, SA Rugby) – 67 caps, 15 pts (3t)

Replacements:

16. Bongi Mbonambi (Cell C Sharks) – 58 caps, 60 pts (12t)

17. Trevor Nyakane (Racing 92) – 59 caps, 5 pts (1t)

18. Vincent Koch (Cell C Sharks) – 43 caps, 0 pts

19. Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs) – 32 caps, 20 pts (4t)

20. RG Snyman (Munster) – 25 caps, 5 pts (1t)

21. Faf de Klerk (Canon Eagles) – 47 caps, 44 pts (5t, 2c, 5p)

22. Lukhanyo Am (Cell C Sharks) – 33 caps, 30 pts (6t)

23. Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers) – 29 caps, 36 pts (2t, 4c, 4p, 2d)