Wounded Springboks make two changes for their Wallabies rematch

Jacques Nienaber has reacted to the Springboks' last-gasp Rugby Championship defeat to Australia last Sunday on the Gold Coast by making two changes to his starting team for this Saturday's rematch versus the Wallabies in Brisbane. Sealed by a clock-in-the-red penalty kick from Quade Cooper, the defeat was a sickening blow for South Africa in what was their first away match since their World Cup final win over England in Japan in November 2019.

However, rather than ring across the board changes to his selection, Nienaber has limited himself to just two alterations, Marvin Orie taking over at lock from the concussed Lood de Jager, and Trevor Nyakane getting picked at loosehead prop with Steven Kitshoff dropping to the replacements.

Nyakane, who boasts 48 Test caps, and Orie last ran out for the Springboks in last month's second Championship clash against Argentina in Port Elizabeth, and elsewhere Nienaber has again opted for a six/two split of forwards and backs on the bench. Back rowers Marco van Staden, Kwagga Smith and Jasper Wiese are chosen as subs along with front-rowers Kitshoff, Malcolm Marx and Vincent Koch, with Herschel Jantjies and Damian Willemse continuing to provide cover in the backline.

“This is an experienced group of players who knows what it takes to deliver under pressure and we all know what we need to do to bounce back from last week’s defeat,” said Nienaber, who resisted the possibility of leaving out Handre Pollard or sub Willemse after their unconvincing effort last weekend. There is also no return for winger Cheslin Kolbe as he is still on the injured list.

“Trevor is a Rugby World Cup-winning prop and his experience, as well as Steven’s experience off the bench, will be valuable against the Wallabies, who place a big emphasis on the scrums, much like we do. Marvin has also been in our system for a while. He has been working hard at training, and this will be another great opportunity for him.

“We identified the areas in which we need to be more effective this week, and we have been working hard at training to rectify the mistakes we made, so the key for us will be to be as competitive as possible in every contest during the match so that we can lay a good foundation to attack from and to use our point-scoring chances.”

Nienaber is expecting another quality performance from the Wallabies. “Australia were desperate to win last week, and it showed in the way they played,” said the Springboks coach, for whom this is his first Rugby Championship as head coach. “There is no doubt the result would have given them confidence, so we are expecting to them deliver a similarly driven performance this week. That said, we created sufficient opportunities to win last week but we didn’t capitalise on them."

SPRINGBOKS (vs Australia, Saturday)

15 – Willie le Roux (Toyota Verblitz) – 67 caps, 60 pts (12t)

14 – Sbu Nkosi (Cell C Sharks) – 13 caps, 40 pts (8t)

13 – Lukhanyo Am (Cell C Sharks) – 20 caps, 20 pts (4t)

12 – Damian de Allende (Munster) – 52 caps, 30 pts (6t)

11 – Makazole Mapimpi (Cell C Sharks) – 19 caps, 80 pts (16t)

10 – Handré Pollard (vice-captain, Montpellier) – 54 caps, 532 pts (6t, 83c, 108p, 4d)

9 – Faf de Klerk (Sale Sharks) – 33 caps, 25 pts (5t)

8 – Duane Vermeulen (Vodacom Bulls) – 55 caps, 15 pts (3t)

7 – Franco Mostert (Honda Heat) – 45 caps, 5pts (1t)

6 – Siya Kolisi (captain, Cell C Sharks) – 57 caps, 30 pts (6t)

5 –Marvin Orie (DHL Stormers) – 6 caps, 0 pts

4 – Eben Etzebeth (Toulon) – 91 caps, 15 pts (3t)

3 – Frans Malherbe (DHL Stormers) – 44 caps, 5 pts (1t)

2 – Bongi Mbonambi (DHL Stormers) – 42 caps, 45 pts (9t)

1 – Trevor Nyakane (Vodacom Bulls) – 48 caps, 5pts (1t)

Replacements:

16 – Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) – 40 caps, 45 pts (9t)

17 – Steven Kitshoff (DHL Stormers) – 53 caps, 5pts (1t)

18 – Vincent Koch (Saracens) – 25 caps, 0 pts

19 – Marco van Staden (Leicester Tigers) – 7 caps, 0 pts

20 – Kwagga Smith (Yamaha Júbilo) – 13 caps, 5 pts (1t)

21 – Jasper Wiese (Leicester Tigers) – 6 caps, 0 pts

22 – Herschel Jantjies (DHL Stormers) – 15 caps, 25 pts (5t)

23 – Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers) – 13 caps, 5pts (1t)