Boks make late change for Wallabies Test
The Springboks have been forced to make a late change to their matchday-23 for the Rugby Championship Test against Australia at Ellis Park on Saturday following an injury suffered in training by Jan-Hendrik Wessels.
The young loosehead prop hurt himself during a training session on Wednesday. He has been replaced on the bench by rookie Boan Venter, who has played just the one Test, last month against Georgia.
The rest of the Bok team remains unchanged from the side announced by coach Rassie Erasmus on Monday.
At the time, the Bok boss said he might include RG Snyman for a backline player later in the week should the Australians opt to go with a 6-2 bench split of forwards against backs.
Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt did just that, picking a forwards-heavy replacements bench, but Erasmus has opted against changing his bench.
A victory for the Springboks will see them extend their unbeaten run against the Wallabies at Ellis Park to seven matches. They have never lost a match against Australia at the iconic stadium.
The Boks have won six of their last 10 matches against the Wallabies — a track record they will be determined to improve on this weekend. Their last defeat against the Wallabies was in Adelaide in 2022.
The match at Ellis Park kicks off at 5.10pm.
15 Aphelele Fassi (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 12 caps, 35 points (7t)
14 Edwill van der Merwe (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 3 caps, 25 pts (5t)
13 Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles) – 80 caps, 95 points (19t)
12 Andre Esterhuizen (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 20 caps, 0 pts
11 Kurt-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls) – 26 caps, 100 points (20t)
10 Manie Libbok (Kintetsu Liners) – 20 caps, 108 pts (1t, 35c, 11p)
9 Grant Williams (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 19 caps, 25 pts (5t)
8 Siya Kolisi (captain, Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 93 caps, 60 points (12t)
7 Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz) – 88 caps, 60 pts (12t)
6 Marco van Staden (Vodacom Bulls) – 27 caps, 15 pts (3t)
5 Lood de Jager (Wild Knights) – 67 caps, 25 points (5t)
4 Eben Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 133 caps, 35 points (7t)
3 Wilco Louw (Vodacom Bulls) – 18 caps, 0 pts
2 Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) – 78 caps, 115 pts (23t)
1 Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 41 caps, 0 pts
Bench:
16 Bongi Mbonambi (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 79 caps, 70 points (14t)
17 Boan Venter (Edinburgh) – 1 cap, 5 pts (1t)
18 Asenathi Ntlabakanye (Lions) – 1 cap, 0 pts
19 Franco Mostert (Honda Heat) – 79 caps, 20 points (4t)
20 Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs) – 53 caps, 45 points (9t)
21 Cobus Reinach (DHL Stormers) – 40 caps, 70 pts (14t)
22 Canan Moodie (Vodacom Bulls) – 14 caps, 35 pts (7t)
23 Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers) – 41 caps, 61 points (5t, 9c, 4p, 2 dg)
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