Rassie Erasmus has made only two changes to the Springboks' matchday squad for Friday's Nations Championship showdown against France in Paris. Wilco Louw moves into the starting lineup, while Cobus Reinach is included on the replacements bench.
The Springbok coach largely retains the squad that beat Italy last weekend, with the aim of building continuity and momentum in the competition.
Louw replaces Thomas du Toit at tighthead and will form the front row alongside Ox Nche and Malcolm Marx. Du Toit moves to the bench, while Reinach takes the place of Grant Williams.
Lood de Jager and Ruan Nortje retain their places in the locks after De Jager had to come in at short notice last week when Salmaan Moerat withdrew due to back spasms.
Captain Siya Kolisi, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Jasper Wiese form the loose forward trio again.
The backline remains unchanged, with Morné van den Berg and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu as the halfback pairing, Jesse Kriel and Damian de Allende in the centres, and Ethan Hooker, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Damian Willemse in the back three.
Erasmus building on continuity
According to Erasmus, it was the plan from the start not to make too many changes during the tour.
He says most players in the squad have already played against France on their home turf and know what to expect from the French team and their enthusiastic supporters.
On Reinach's inclusion, Erasmus says the scrumhalf's experience of French club rugby at Montpellier could be valuable.
Eben Etzebeth, who arrived in France early Monday morning, has not been selected for the match. Erasmus explains that Etzebeth needs to integrate back into the squad's training programme after his time on the sidelines before he can be considered again.
De Jager and Franco Mostert have already been training with the squad for almost two weeks and have valuable experience against France.
Big challenge awaits in Paris
Erasmus expects another extremely physical match between two of the world's leading rugby teams.
France holds fourth place on the world rankings and leads the Northern Hemisphere Nations Championship standings. Both teams are aiming for a place in the final of the competition.
The Boks beat France in the quarter-final of the Rugby World Cup in 2023 29–28 and won 32–17 in Paris last year.
According to Erasmus, the Springboks will need to execute their match plan carefully and capitalise on every opportunity to score points.
The Springboks have won their last five matches against France in Paris. France's last victory over the Boks in the capital was in 2005.
Springboks versus France: the squad
Starting lineup:
15. Damian Willemse
14. Kurt-Lee Arendse
13. Jesse Kriel
12. Damian de Allende
11. Ethan Hooker
10. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu
9. Morné van den Berg
8. Jasper Wiese
7. Pieter-Steph du Toit
6. Siya Kolisi (captain)
5. Ruan Nortje
4. Lood de Jager
3. Wilco Louw
2. Malcolm Marx
1. Ox Nche
Replacements:
16. Jan-Hendrik Wessels
17. Gerhard Steenekamp
18. Thomas du Toit
19. Franco Mostert
20. Cameron Hanekom
21. Paul de Villiers
22. Cobus Reinach
23. Manie Libbok
Milestones and statistics
- Siya Kolisi will captain the Springboks for the 70th time.
- Jesse Kriel and Malcolm Marx each have 95 Test matches to their names and are approaching the coveted milestone of 100 Tests.
- Ten players in the matchday squad were part of the team that eliminated France during the Rugby World Cup in 2023.
- The Boks have won 29 of their previous 47 Tests against France, lost 12 and drawn six.
- The starting lineup collectively has 896 Tests' worth of experience.
The match takes place on Friday 13 November at 22:10 (SA time) at the Stade de France in Paris and will be broadcast live on SuperSport. Read more rugby news on Nuusflits.
Source: SA Rugby
This article is an automatic English translation of a Nuusflits article originally published in Afrikaans. Read the Afrikaans original.
