Rassie Erasmus makes late tweak to Springboks team for Wallabies showdown
Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus (inset) and Edinburgh prop Boan Venter.
Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus has added Boan Venter to his replacements bench as a late change ahead of Saturday’s Rugby Championship clash against the Wallabies in Johannesburg.
The 28-year-old, who plies his trade with United Rugby Championship outfit Edinburgh, will offer front-row cover following the late withdrawal of Jan-Hendrik Wessels.
Venter joins Bongi Mbonambi, Asenathi Ntlabakanye, Franco Mostert and Kwagga Smith as the forward replacements for the eagerly anticipated showdown at Emirates Airline Park.
The rest of the bench comprise of Cobus Reinach, Canan Moodie and Damian Willemse, who will offer backline cover.
Set to make second Springboks appearance
Saturday’s clash will offer Venter the opportunity to make only his second Test appearance for the Springboks after he made a try-scoring debut for the world champions during their 55-10 victory over Georgia in Nelspruit last month.
The loosehead prop started his professional career at the Cheetahs in 2017 before making the move to Edinburgh four years later.
He was on track to become eligible for Scottish residency qualification in February 2026, which would have allowed him to play for Scotland’s national team under World Rugby’s five-year residency rule.
However, he was a shock inclusion in Erasmus‘ 45-man Springboks squad ahead of their mid-year international campaign.
While Erasmus has been forced to call up Venter due to Wessels’ injury, he has not made any other alterations to his matchday squad.
This, after he hinted earlier in the week that he would bring second-rower RG Snyman into his matchday squad as a replacement in place of a backline player if the Wallabies should opt to deploy a 6/2 bench split which has indeed happened.
Revised Springboks team to face the Wallabies
South Africa: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Siya Kolisi (c), 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Boan Venter, 18 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 19 Franco Mostert, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Canan Moodie, 23 Damian Willemse
Date: Saturday, August 16
Venue: Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg
Kick-off: 17:10 local (16:10 BST, 15:10 GMT)
Referee: Ben O’Keeffe (NZR)
Assistant referees: James Doleman (NZR), Gianluca Gnecchi (FIR)
TMO: Tual Trainini (FFR)
FPRO: Richard Kelly (NZR)
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