Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus showed faith in the players who steered the team to victory against Italy for their second Nations Championship Northern Series Test, making only two changes to his match-23 to face France in Paris on Friday, which sees Wilco Louw move into the starting team, and Cobus Reinach being drafted onto the bench.
Louw will join forces with Ox Nche and Malcolm Marx in the front row in the only change to the starting team, while Thomas du Toit will link up with Jan-Hendrik Wessels and Gerhard Steenekamp among the replacements, with the other change among the impact players being the inclusion of Reinach, who played club rugby for Montpellier, replacing Grant Williams.
Lood de Jager and Ruan Nortje will again partner up in the second row after Erasmus was forced to make a late change to his matchday squad in Turin last week following the withdrawal of Salmaan Moerat due to back spasms experienced during the warmup, while the experienced loose trio of captain Siya Kolisi, Pieter-Steph du Toit, and Jasper Wiese will complete the forward pack.
Erasmus named an identical backline with Morne van den Berg and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu at halfback, Jesse Kriel and Damian de Allende in the midfield, and Ethan Hooker, Kurt-Lee Arendse, and Damian Willemse serving as the back three.
The Bok coach also retained the split of six forwards and two backs on the bench, where utility forward Franco Mostert and loose forwards Cameron Hanekom and Paul de Villiers, will provide an impact alongside the front row of Wessels, Steenekamp, and Thomas du Toit, while Reinach – who covers scrumhalf and wing – and Manie Libbok have been named as the two backline players.
A total of 16 players in the match-23 featured in the Boks’ 32-17 victory over France in Paris last year, including the entire starting forward pack with the exception of Nche, as well as five of the backs in the run-on team – Feinberg-Mngomezulu, De Allende, Kriel, and Willemse. Ten players in the group were members of the team that defeated France 29-28 in the quarter-final of the Rugby World Cup in 2023.
“We said from the outset that we would not rotate too much on this tour, so it was always our intention to select a settled squad for this game to build momentum in the competition,” said Erasmus.
“Most of these players have faced France at home and know what to expect from them, and they have also experienced their passionate and vocal crowd first-hand.”
Of the two changes to his matchday team, Erasmus said: “Our front rows are well settled and have all been playing together for a few seasons, so we made a rotational switch with Wilco and Thomas, while Cobus is also very familiar with the French conditions as he played club rugby here, so we thought bringing him into the mix would be good against a quality French outfit.”
Commenting on the decision not to name Eben Etzebeth, who arrived in France early on Monday morning in the squad, Erasmus said: “Eben just arrived in France, and although we know what he brings to the team, but we feel it would be better for him to get back into the swing of things this week after some time on the sidelines.
“Lood and Franco are also very experienced players and they have been training with us for almost two weeks now after arriving in Italy the week prior to last week’s Test match. They’ve both faced France in high pressure matches and delivered, so we know what we have in them and what they will bring to the team this week.”
The Bok coach expected a colossal encounter against France, who pushed the Boks to the limit in the 2023 Rugby World Cup quarter-final, and also in their Castle Lager Outgoing Tour match last year, in which the Boks held a one-point lead at the break, and he anticipated another grind of a match.
“Matches between us and France are always intense, and this week will be no different,” said Erasmus.
“Both teams have everything to play for, with France leading the northern hemisphere standings and the team being ranked fourth in the world, and we are in a similar situation trying to hold onto the top spots in the respective Nations Championship hemisphere tables, so this match is vital for both sides to try to advance to the final of the competition in a few weeks.
“They also always have a passionate crowd behind them that will definitely fuel their team, but we also enjoy the atmosphere at Stade de France, so neither team will give an inch.
“Our focus though is on what we want to do as a team, so it will be vital to execute our game plan accurately and make the most of the point-scoring chances we create.
“They have a good pack of forwards and dangerous backs, so we need to be at our best to get the desired result.”
The Test kicks off at 22h10 (SA time) and will be broadcast live on SuperSport.
Springbok team to face France in Paris:
15 Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers) – 56 caps, 81 pts (9t, 9c, 4p, 2dg)
14 Kurt-Lee Arendse (Mitsubishi Dynaboars) – 36 caps, 135 pts (27t)
13 Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles) – 95 caps, 125 pts (25t)
12 Damian de Allende (Wild Knights) – 104 caps, 65 pts (13t)
11 Ethan Hooker (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 15 caps, 15 pts (3t)
10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (DHL Stormers) – 26 caps, 221 pts (10t, 59c, 15p)
9 Morne van den Berg (10bet Lions) – 12 caps, 42 pts (8t, 1c)
8 Jasper Wiese (Urayasu D-Rocks) – 51 caps, 20 pts (4t)
7 Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz) – 103 caps, 75 pts (15t)
6 Siya Kolisi (captain, DHL Stormers) – 108 caps, 80 pts (16t)
5 Ruan Nortje (Kubota Spears) – 25 caps, 5 pts (1t)
4 Lood de Jager (Wild Knights) – 79 caps, 25 pts (5t)
3 Wilco Louw (DHL Stormers) – 37 caps, 15 pts (3t)
2 Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) – 95 caps, 145 pts (31t)
1 Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 54 caps, 5 pts (1t)
Replacements:
16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Vodacom Bulls) – 16 caps, 10 pts (2t)
17 Gerhard Steenekamp (Vodacom Bulls) – 24 caps, 10 pts (2t)
18 Thomas du Toit (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 38 caps, 10 pts (2t)
19 Franco Mostert (Honda Heat) – 86 caps, 20 pts (4t)
20 Cameron Hanekom (Vodacom Bulls) – 7 caps, 10 pts (2t)
21 Paul de Villiers (DHL Stormers) – 6 caps, 10 pts (2t)
22 Cobus Reinach (DHL Stormers) – 57 caps, 100 pts (20t)
23 Manie Libbok (Kintetsu Liners) – 35 caps, 149 pts (2t, 50c, 13p)
Stats and facts:
Springbok record against France:
Played 47; Won 29; Lost 12; Drawn 6. Points for: 1026, Points against: 737. Tries scored 115, Tries conceded 66. Highest score 52-10; Biggest win 42 points. Win % 61,7%.
Miscellaneous:
- Jesse Kriel and Malcolm Marx will both enter the match with 95 Test caps to their name, meaning they require only four more Test appearances after this weekend to join the exclusive club of Springbok centurions.
- Ten players in the matchday squad played in the RWC quarter-final against France in 2023, while 16 players were involved in the match-up between the team’s last season.
- The Springboks have won the last five matches between the teams in Paris, dating back to 2013. Les Bleus last won a match against the Boks in the French capital in 2005.
- Siya Kolisi will lead the Springboks for the 70th time when he takes the field. In his last match against France, he earned the significant milestone of becoming the ninth Springbok centurion in history.
- The total Test caps in the Springbok starting line-up are 896. There are 344 caps in the backline, with 552 caps among the forwards. On the bench, there are a further 269 caps.
- The average caps per player in the backline is 49, the forwards 69, while the players on the bench average 34.
Plum Moon
Abbas Ali Baig was the first Indian cricketer to be kissed during a Test match – When Abbas Ali Baig reached a half-century in the third Test match against Australia at the Brabourne Stadium in 1960, a pretty young girl ran all the way from the North Stand to greet the batsman. She kissed Baig on his cheek.
Murmur
In rugby union, the fastest try ever scored in an international test match was by Daisuke Ohata of Japan, who crossed the try line just 7.2 seconds after the opening kickoff against Wales in 2004.