1
Springboks change 14 for Portugal with 7 debutants
By Josh Raisey
South Africa have made 14 changes to their starting XV to face Portugal in Bloemfontein on Saturday from the one that lost to Ireland.
Three members of Rassie Erasmus' starting XV are set to make their debuts- loosehead prop Jan-Hendrik Wessels, hooker Johan Grobbelaar and flanker Phepsi Buthelezi.
A further four more could make their deubts from the bench- hooker Andre-Hugo Venter, flanker Ruan Venter, scrumhalf Morne van den Berg and fullback Quan Horn.
Winger Kurt-Lee Arendse is the sole survivor from the 25-24 loss to Andy Farrell's side in Durban.
Locks Salmaan Moerat and RG Snyman are the two other members from the 1-1 series with Ireland in the starting XV. The pair had previously been part of the Bomb Squad.
Stormers lock Moerat will lead the Springboks for the first time in his career.
For the third consecutive match, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu will take his place on the bench, which on this occasion has a 5-3 split.
“Portugal are a quality team as we saw with their victory against Fiji in the RWC, while they also drew their clash against Georgia 18-18,” said Erasmus.
“It was important for us to select a quality team with a bunch of experienced players, while at the same time delivering on our objective of growing our squad depth by naming a few debutants.”
South Africa XV
15 – Aphelele Fassi (Hollywoodbets Sharks) - 4 caps, 10 points (2t)
14 – Kurt-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls) - 17 caps, 70 points (14t)
13 – Lukhanyo Am (Hollywoodbets Sharks) - 35 caps, 30 pts (6t)
12 – Andre Esterhuizen (Hollywoodbets Sharks) - 17 caps, 0 pts
11 – Makazole Mapimpi (Hollywoodbets Sharks) - 42 caps, 135 points (27t)
10 – Manie Libbok (DHL Stormers) - 14 caps, 87 pts (1t, 26c, 10p)
9 – Cobus Reinach (Montpellier) - 32 caps, 65 pts (13t)
8 – Evan Roos (DHL Stormers) - 6 caps, 0 points
7 – Ben-Jason Dixon (DHL Stormers) – 1 cap, 0 points
6 – Phepsi Buthelezi (Hollywoodbets Sharks) - uncapped
5 – RG Snyman (Leinster) - 36 caps, 10 points (2t)
4 – Salmaan Moerat (captain, DHL Stormers) - 6 caps, 0 points
3 – Thomas du Toit (Bath) - 18 caps, 0 pts
2 – Johan Grobbelaar (Vodacom Bulls) - uncapped
1 – Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Vodacom Bulls) - uncapped
Replacements
16 – Andre-Hugo Venter (DHL Stormers) - uncapped
17 – Ntuthuko Mchunu (Hollywoodbets Sharks) - 2 caps, 0 points
18 – Trevor Nyakane (Hollywoodbets Sharks) - 67 caps, 5 pts (1t)
19 – Ruan Venter (Emirates Lions) - uncapped
20 – Elrigh Louw (Vodacom Bulls) – 3 caps, 0 points
21 – Morne van den Berg (Emirates Lions) – uncapped
22 – Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (DHL Stormers) - 3 caps, 7 points (2c, 1p)
23 – Quan Horn (Emirates Lions) – uncapped
Trending on RugbyPass
2
Jean de Villiers' brave verdict on future Springbok captain
3
Stuart Hogg facing stalking charges against a second woman – report
4
Sale update the Jonny Hill police situation, RFU disciplinary
5
Latest Comments
"Previous All Blacks coaches have made the mistake of believing they can ignore the specifics of each back-row position and shift individuals as circumstances dictate, but there is no evidence it ever worked."
Well said, Gregor. Razor must bite the bullet re 6, can't wait for Frizzell: make a choice on potential between Barrett and Vaii at 6, and give them a run at the position. Finau is a flat-track bully - big hits on first fives, goes backwards against the big boys. Then Razor can decide re 8 between Savea and Sititi, and at 7 between Savea, Papali'i and Blackadder. Jacobson covers a lot of positions on the bench, but isn't an impact player (as Sititi could be). Cane should be thanked and farewelled (along wth TJ and Reece).
Go to commentsDidn't the Cheetahs also indicate that they were keen on playing super rugby? Or how about a combined SA side made up of players from teams not playing in Europe? Or are they all B-grade sides?
Go to comments