Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus named Kwagga Smith at No.6 for Saturday’s Rugby Championship clash against the All Blacks in Wellington.
Smith, who made one appearance for the Boks in the one-off match against Wales in the US at the start of 2018, has successfully made the transition from Sevens to 15s and it’s that sort of magic that Erasmus is hoping he will bring to the table at the weekend.
The coach explains: “Overall, I think he is energetic. He is opportunistic and a ball-player. He has a big engine on him.
“Obviously, he is not one of the biggest guys but if you take people like Sam Cane and those kinds of players, he matches them size-wise.
“He has a big heart and is a great team man and I think what he does on attack and defence matches any other player in Super Rugby.”
Good week of preparations so far for the big #AllBlacks match on Saturday in Wellington.
Here's some pics from our training sessions at Porirua Park. #StrongerTogether #CastleLager #RugbyChampionship #NZLvRSA pic.twitter.com/QycmMRfIEg
— Springboks (@Springboks) July 24, 2019
Erasmus made a number of changes to the side that beat Australia 35-17 last weekend, with only Eben Etzebeth, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Makazole Mapimpi holding on to their starting berths.
While most of the stars of the Wallabies match will play off the bench, there was no place for flyhalf Elton Jantjies as the Bok coach wants to test his third option Frans Steyn at No.10.
The team will be led by Duane Vermeulen.
Springboks:
15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Duane Vermeulen (captain), 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Kwagga Smith, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Steven Kitshoff.
Replacements:
16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Tendai Mtawarira, 18 Trevor Nyakane, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Francois Louw, 21 Herschel Jantjies, 22 Frans Steyn, 23 Jesse Kriel.