Springboks alter squad for All Blacks as Eben Etzebeth passed fit

South Africa lock Eben Etzebeth has been cleared to face the All Blacks this Saturday in the Rugby Championship and has come into a revised Springboks squad.

The 124-cap Springbok had originally been excluded from the squad that was announced on Tuesday due to a knee injury, but head coach Rassie Erasmus hinted that he could make a return to the squad.

A day later, the Springboks have confirmed that the double World Cup winner will indeed make the squad, replacing Marco van Staden on the bench at Ellis Park.

Etzebeth's inclusion means he could theoretically overtake Victor Matfield as the most capped Springbok this Rugby Championship. The 32-year-old needs four more caps to overtake the 127 won by his former second-row teammate, which will be achieved if he features in South Africa's remaining four fixtures of the Championship.

“Our selection policy has always been that if a player does not train on a Monday he will not play on Saturday, but Eben has made it through training pain-free all week, so we had to make the tough call to name him in the squad at the expense of Marco,” Erasmus said.

“There were back-up options for us at lock in the initial squad, but with Eben on the bench it means we have another specialist in that position in the team.

“We are blessed to have an expanded squad of about 45 players who have all bought into our plans and who understand what’s best for the team, and it’s admirable how Marco accepted the news. It shows the quality of the player and person he is.”

Revised Springboks XV

15 – Aphelele Fassi (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 6 caps, 15 points (3t)

14 – Cheslin Kolbe (Suntory Sungoliath) – 35 caps, 96 points (15t, 3c, 5p)

13 – Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles) – 73 caps, 80 points (16t)

12 – Damian de Allende (Wild Knights) – 82 caps, 55 points (11t)

11 – Kurt-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls) - 19 caps, 85 points (17t)

10 – Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (DHL Stormers) – 6 caps, 33 points (12c, 3p)

9 – Cobus Reinach (Montpellier) – 34 caps, 65 points (13t)

8 – Jasper Wiese (Urayasu D-Rocks) – 27 caps, 5 points (1t)

7 – Ben-Jason Dixon (DHL Stormers) – 3 caps, 5 points (1t)

6 – Siya Kolisi (captain, Racing 92) – 86 caps, 55 points (11t)

5 – Ruan Nortje (Vodacom Bulls) – 2 caps, 0 points

4 – Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz) – 81 caps, 45 points (9t)

3 – Frans Malherbe (DHL Stormers) – 73 caps, 5 points (1t)

2 – Bongi Mbonambi (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 72 caps, 70 points (14t)

1 – Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 33 caps, 0 points

Replacements

16 – Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) – 69 caps, 95 points (19t)

17 – Gerhard Steenekamp (Vodacom Bulls) – 4 caps, 0 points

18 – Vincent Koch (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 54 caps, 0 points

19 – Eben Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 124 caps, 30 points (6t)

20 – Elrigh Louw (Vodacom Bulls) – 6 caps, 0 points

21 – Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs) – 45 caps, 40 points (8t)

22 – Grant Williams (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 13 caps, 10 points (2t)

23 – Handre Pollard (Leicester Tigers) – 73 caps, 734 points (7t, 99c, 162p, 5dg)