Springboks make 1 change to their XV and it doesn't involve Kolbe

Springboks head coach Jacques Nienaber has made just one change to his starting team to take on the All Blacks in next Saturday's round six Rugby Championship encounter on the Gold Coast. The 2019 world champions were defeated by a late Jordie Barrett penalty in the 19-17 loss to New Zealand in Townsville last weekend, but this third defeat in succession hasn't tempted the coach into making wholesale changes.   

Injury is the reason for Nienaber making his sole Championship XV change, promoting Ox Nche to starting loosehead and switching regular Springboks No1 Trevor Nyakane to tighthead where the injured Frans Malherbe loses out with a neck niggle. There is also just one switch on the bench with Jasper Wiese, who was involved last week in a dismissed citing charge, coming in for Marco van Staden, who suffered a shoulder injury last weekend.

Elsewhere, there was no good news regarding Cheslin Kolbe. Having last played in August versus Argentina in Port Elizabeth in the Championship, a leg injury has curtailed his Springboks availability since then and while he trained with the team on Monday and Tuesday, he was unable to complete the last training session and it dashed his hopes of making a comeback.

“We made a big step-up in terms of our performance last week and having reviewed the match, there is no doubt we delivered a performance worthy of a victory,” said Nienaber. “With that in mind we opted for continuity in our team, so the only change in the run-on side is Ox taking over in the front row after Frans was ruled out. Trevor is a seasoned campaigner who is equally comfortable at loosehead and tighthead prop, and Ox is a strong scrummager, so we are looking forward to seeing what they can do in the scrums.

“Cheslin would have started the match if he made a full recovery from the leg injury which has kept him out since the beginning of our Australian tour, but unfortunately his injury flared up during the latter stages of Tuesday’s field session, so we could not select him. On the bench, Jasper takes over from Marco, and we are fortunate in that they are similar in terms of their physicality and strong ball-carrying abilities.

“We know it is going to take a colossal 80-minute effort, but the drive to succeed and motivation to win this weekend is as big as it gets. Last week we stuck to our DNA and style of play, and with a little more luck we could have come away with the result, so we need to ensure that we are better at it this week.

SPRINGBOKS (vs All Blacks, Saturday)

15 – Willie le Roux (Toyota Verblitz) – 69 caps, 60 pts (12t)

14 – Sbu Nkosi (Cell C Sharks) – 15 caps, 45 pts (9t)

13 – Lukhanyo Am (Cell C Sharks) – 22 caps, 25 pts (5t)

12 – Damian de Allende (Munster) – 54 caps, 30 pts (6t)

11 – Makazole Mapimpi (Cell C Sharks) – 21 caps, 80 pts (16t)

10 – Handré Pollard (vice-captain, Montpellier) – 56 caps, 556 pts (6t, 83c, 116p, 4d)

9 – Faf de Klerk (Sale Sharks) – 35 caps, 25 pts (5t)

8 – Duane Vermeulen (Vodacom Bulls) – 57 caps, 15 pts (3t)

7 – Kwagga Smith (Yamaha Júbilo) – 15 caps, 5 pts (1t)

6 – Siya Kolisi (captain, Cell C Sharks) – 59 caps, 30 pts (6t)

5 – Lood de Jager (Sale Sharks) – 52 caps, 25 pts (5t)

4 – Eben Etzebeth (Toulon) – 93 caps, 15 pts (3t)

3 – Trevor Nyakane (Vodacom Bulls) – 50 caps, 5pts (1t)

2 – Bongi Mbonambi (DHL Stormers) – 44 caps, 45 pts (9t)

1 – Ox Nché (Cell C Sharks) – 5 caps, 0pts

Replacements:

16 – Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) – 42 caps, 45 pts (9t)

17 – Steven Kitshoff (DHL Stormers) – 55 caps, 5pts (1t)

18 – Vincent Koch (Saracens) – 27 caps, 0 pts

19 – Franco Mostert (Honda Heat) – 47 caps, 5pts (1t)

20 – Jasper Wiese (Leicester Tigers) – 7 caps, 0 pts

21 – Herschel Jantjies (DHL Stormers) – 17 caps, 25 pts (5t)

22 – Elton Jantjies (NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes) – 40 caps, 300 pts (2t, 64c, 54p)

23 – Frans Steyn (Toyota Cheetahs) – 70 caps, 141pts (11t, 7c, 21p, 3d)