Cape Town – Springbok head coach, Jacques Nienaber, rang in the changes for South Africa’s clash with France in Marseille on Saturday, hoping that his side will come out victorious this time round.
Nienaber named a team showing five changes and two positional switches from the side that lost 19-16 against Ireland last weekend.
Willie le Roux will slot back into the starting team at fullback, which sees Cheslin Kolbe move to the right wing and Kurt-Lee Arendse to the left wing, while Makazole Mapimpi has been named among the replacements. The other change in the backline sees Faf de Klerk start at scrumhalf in place of Jaden Hendrikse.
Nienaber also made changes to his forward pack, with tighthead prop Frans Malherbe packing down in a new-look front row next to Ox Nche (prop) and Bongi Mbonambi (hooker), while Franco Mostert makes the jump from the bench to the starting lineup to fill the void left by injured lock Lood de Jager.
Other changes amongst the replacements – where the uncapped Libbok has been named in the matchday squad in a Test for the first time – include Cobus Reinach, who will provide cover at scrumhalf, as well as Steven Kitshoff (prop), Malcolm Marx (hooker) and Marvin Orie (lock). Nienaber opted for a split of five forwards and three backs on the bench for this Test.
#Springboks team tweaked for @FranceRugby Test, with the uncapped Manie Libbok named on the bench – more here: https://t.co/FgHkR6sB3b ??#StrongerTogether #StrongerForever #FRAvRSA pic.twitter.com/F4LBbQMql3
— Springboks (@Springboks) November 8, 2022
Nienaber expected a big onslaught from the French and said this would be a good test for the team with an eye on next year’s Rugby World Cup, which will be hosted in France.
“France have showed in the last year what a force they can be, and they come off a morale-boosting victory against Australia, so we know we are in for,” said Nienaber.
“Facing France, who are ranked second in the world, on their home patch at what we expect will be a full stadium is great preparation for next year, as the players will experience first-hand what they are in for.
“We will also be playing at this stadium during the World Cup, so this match will be good for us in many ways.”
Looking at the threat France could pose, Nienaber said: “They have a good pack of forwards who pride themselves on their set pieces and talented backs who can spark something from nothing, so they will test us all around.
“That said, we know what our players are capable of, and if we had capitalised on more of our opportunities against Ireland we could have been on the right end of the scoreboard. The reality is that we lost against the best team in the world at home in front of a capacity crowd by three points.
“We’ve spoken about what went wrong last week and we are working hard on rectifying those areas so that we can we play to our potential and make the nation proud this weekend.”
Final prep ✅#Springboks #StrongerTogether #StrongerForever #FRAvRSA pic.twitter.com/kDKvDSpnxh
— Springboks (@Springboks) November 11, 2022
Springbok team to face France in Marseille:
Backs
15 – Willie le Roux, 14 – Cheslin Kolbe, 13 – Jesse Kriel, 12 – Damian de Allende, 11 – Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 – Damian Willemse 9 – Faf de Klerk
Forwards
8 – Jasper Wiese, 7 – Pieter-Steph du Toit , 6 – Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 – Franco Mostert, 4 – Eben Etzebeth, 3 – Frans Malherbe, 2 – Bongi Mbonambi, 1 – Ox Nche
Replacements:
16 – Malcolm Marx
17 – Steven Kitshoff
18 – Vincent Koch
19 – Marvin Orie
20 – Kwagga Smith
21 – Cobus Reinach
22 – Manie Libbok
23 – Makazole Mapimpi
Follow African Insider on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
Picture: SA Rugby
For more African news, visit Africaninsider.com
Compiled by Junaid Benjamin
