Judging by their team selection for tomorrow night’s 7.40pm Test against England at Twickenham, the Springboks are going to run with ball in hand.
Coach Rassie Erasmus’s charges beat Scotland 32-15 in a less-than-convincing display last Sunday and with a short turnaround ahead of tomorrow’s match against the Roses, the coach opted make a hele 12 changes to his starting XV.
The only survivors from the starting XV that faced up to Flower of Scotland last week are lock Eben Etzebeth, prop Ox Nche and hooker Bongi Mbonambi.
Perhaps the biggest indication of how the Boks are going to approach this match is the changes at halfback, where Grant Williams and Manie Libbok replace Jordan Hendrikse and Handre Pollard at nine and 10 respectively.
Williams and Libbok offer more on attack, with Hendrikse and Pollard seemingly more at home with the kicking game.
With captain Siya Kolisi back to lead the team from the side of the scrum, the other players coming in are fullback Aphelele Fassi, wings Cheslin Kolbe and Kurt-Lee Arendse, centre Jesse Kriel and Damian de Allende, No.8 Jasper Wiese, flanker Pieter-Steph du Toit, lock RG Snyman and tighthead prop Wilco Louw, who plays in his first Test match since 2021.
Erasmus also opted for a five-forwards, three-backs split on the bench, having played seven forwards and one back in the Scotland clash – another indication that the Boks are willing to take it wide tomorrow.
Of his team selection, Erasmus says: “The turnaround between the Scotland and England Tests is short, so we had to be smart in our selection to enable us to field a fresh squad with only six days between two tough Test matches.
“It obviously has a knock-on in effect in the sense that we’ve made 12 changes to the starting lineup, but we have been rotating our squad all season.”
Springboks:
A welcome return for Wilco Louw as the #Springboks made 12 changes to their starting team to face England in London on Saturday 💚![CDATA[]]>💛#ForeverGreenForeverGold
15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 12 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 RG Snyman, 4 Eben Etebeth, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche.
Replacements: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Elrigh Louw, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Handre Pollard, 23 Lukhanyo Am.
Just over 48 hours to go until kick-off in London, and the boys have been hard at work ✅#Springboks#ForeverGreenForeverGold pic.twitter.com/kzMatDOcLy