De Allende Hits Century Milestone As Boks Rotate Squad For All Blacks War
Springbok centre Damian de Allende will become the 10th player in history to earn 100 Test caps for South Africa when the Boks face the All Blacks in the opening match of the inaugural Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry in Johannesburg on Saturday.
The team named for the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry opener at 10bet Ellis Park features a blend of continuity from the Test against Argentina and several players who remained in South Africa while the rest of the squad travelled to Buenos Aires.
The majority of the players named in Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus’ starting XV, including captain Pieter-Steph du Toit, began their preparations for the series in Johannesburg last week as the rest of the squad travelled to Argentina for the clash against Los Pumas.
The only two players retaining their places in the starting XV from the Argentina Test, which the Boks won 17-10, are Eben Etzebeth at lock and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu at flyhalf. A further seven players from the clash in Buenos Aires — Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Marco van Staden and Cobus Wiese (all utility forwards), Gerhard Steenekamp and Zachary Porthen (both props), Andre Esterhuizen (utility back) and Cobus Reinach (scrumhalf) — have been included on the bench.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu will form a halfback combination with Grant Williams, while wings Cheslin Kolbe and Kurt-Lee Arendse, alongside fullback Damian Willemse, make up the back three. Completing the quality backline is the record-breaking centre pairing of De Allende and Jesse Kriel.
Ox Nche makes a welcome return from injury and will join Wilco Louw and Malcolm Marx in the front row. Etzebeth will reunite with Ruan Nortje in the engine room, while Paul de Villiers, Du Toit and Jasper Wiese have been named in the loose trio.
Erasmus has retained the same replacement front row from two weeks ago, with Wessels, Steenekamp and Porthen providing cover. Cobus Wiese, Van Staden and Esterhuizen will provide further forward cover, while the two specialist backs are Reinach and flyhalf Manie Libbok.
“The All Blacks are a quality team, and we selected combinations we think would be best suited for the challenge this weekend,” said Erasmus.
“The squad is well balanced with players who remained in South Africa to train for this series and some of the players who featured against Argentina.
“It certainly helped to have some players return from injury last week and to get back into top-flight Test rugby, while some of the others who had a heavy workload in the Nations Championship had sufficient time to recover from the physical toll on them.
“The whole group has now been together for over a week, and we are all aligned regarding the way we want to play this weekend.”
Commenting on the omission of regular Springbok flanker and captain Siya Kolisi, Erasmus said: “Siya trained well with us this week, and although we could have selected him for this clash, we thought it would be best to select Paul (de Villiers) for this weekend’s game.
“We are playing four Tests against the All Blacks and Paul has been playing well, so we are excited to give him a chance this weekend in what will be his first Test match against New Zealand, while taking a precautionary approach to Siya’s return.
“We have a solid group of players, and each one of them deserves their places in the squad, so we will approach team selection week by week.”
Erasmus was delighted for De Allende as he prepares to reach the significant milestone of 100 Test caps.
“We are all very excited for Damian, and to achieve this milestone in this series makes it even more special,” said Erasmus.
“He’s a great team man, and servant to the game, so we hope we can make it a memorable day for him. That said, his focus all week has only been on this match, and he will certainly not let the occasion overshadow what he has to do on the field.”
The Bok coach expects another epic encounter against the All Blacks.
“They are a quality team and they’re very well coached, so we are preparing for an 80-minute grind. They have a well-rounded squad with physical forwards and an exciting backline, so we have to be sharp and accurate in our execution from the outset.
“Many of the matches between the sides have come down to the wire, so it’s important that we use the chances we create and ensure that our discipline is on point. It’s going to be a big battle, but the entire squad is excited about the match and looking forward to it.”
The match kicks off at 17h10 and will be broadcast live on SuperSport.
Springbok team to face New Zealand in Johannesburg:
15 Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers) – 52 caps, 76 pts (8t, 9c, 4p, 2dg)
14 Cheslin Kolbe (DHL Stormers) – 50 caps, 131 pts (22t, 3c, 5p)
13 Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles) – 90 caps, 115 pts (23t)
12 Damian de Allende (Wild Knights) – 99 caps, 55 pts (11t)
11 Kurt-Lee Arendse (Mitsubishi Dynaboars) – 32 caps, 125 pts (25t)
10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (DHL Stormers) – 20 caps, 177 pts (9t, 45c, 14p)
9 Grant Williams (Kobe Steelers) – 30 caps, 40 pts (8t)
8 Jasper Wiese (Urayasu D-Rocks) – 46 caps, 20 pts (4t)
7 Pieter-Steph du Toit (captain, Toyota Verblitz) – 98 caps, 70 pts (14t)
6 Paul de Villiers (DHL Stormers) – 3 caps, 5 pts (1t)
5 Ruan Nortje (Kubota Spears) – 20 caps, 5 pts (1t)
4 Eben Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 142 caps, 45 pts (9t)
3 Wilco Louw (DHL Stormers) – 31 caps, 10 pts (2t)
2 Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) – 89 caps, 135 pts (27t)
1 Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 48 caps, 0 pts
Replacements:
16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Vodacom Bulls) – 13 caps, 10 pts (2t)
17 Gerhard Steenekamp (Vodacom Bulls) – 19 caps, 10 pts (2t)
18 Zachary Porthen (DHL Stormers) – 6 caps, 5 pts (1t)
19 Cobus Wiese (Vodacom Bulls) – 5 caps, 0 pts
20 Andre Esterhuizen (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 31 caps, 25 pts (5t)
21 Marco van Staden (Vodacom Bulls) – 36 caps, 20 pts (4t)
22 Cobus Reinach (DHL Stormers) – 53 caps, 100 pts (20t)
23 Manie Libbok (Kintetsu Liners) – 30 caps, 147 pts (2t, 49c, 13p)
