Springboks keep the faith with same 23 for Rugby World Cup semi-final with England

Springboks head coach Jacques Nienaber has named an unchanged matchday squad for their highly anticipated Rugby World Cup semi-final against England in Paris on Saturday.

With a combined total of 895 international caps the selection is the most experienced in Springbok history, with 15 of the 23 players in the squad having featured against England in the 32-12 victory in the 2019 Rugby World Cup final in Japan.

Rare occasion that Boks stick with same 23

It is also only the second occasion that Nienaber and Springboks director of rugby Rassie Erasmus have named an identical line-up in 64 Tests since they took charge of the team in 2018.

Nienaber has stuck with the same players which guided the Boks to a hard-fought 29-28 quarter-final triumph against against World Cup hosts France at the same venue last week.

In the backline, Manie Libbok and Cobus Reinach have been named as the starting half-backs again, while Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel continue in midfield alongside a back three of Cheslin Kolbe, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Damian Willemse.

In the forwards, Steven Kitshoff, Frans Malherbe and Bongi Mbonambi will pack down in the front-row, with Eben Etzebeth and Franco Mostert behind them in the engine room, while Bok captain Siya Kolisi, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Duane Vermeulen complete the pack.

The replacements bench features forwards Deon Fourie (hooker/flanker), Ox Nche and Vincent Koch (props), RG Snyman (second-row), Kwagga Smith (back-row), with Faf de Klerk (scrum-half), Handre Pollard (fly-half), and Willie le Roux (full-back) continuing as backline cover.

“We’ve been building a quality Rugby World Cup squad for the last few years so that we could be in this position going into the knockout matches,” said Nienaber.

“We have a squad of 33 players, all of whom are very closely matched in terms of their skill and quality of play which made it tempting to make changes this week and it was tough to select this group both last week and this week.

“But we feel it’s now time to go with the players in the squad who we believe are in their best form.”

Nienaber pointed out that eight players in the run-on side started against England in the 2019 final (Kolisi, Du Toit, Vermeulen, Mbonambi, Etzebeth, Malherbe, De Allende and Kolbe), while seven others from that encounter are also in the matchday 23 (starting forwards Mostert and Kitshoff, as well as backline replacements Le Roux, Pollard and De Klerk, and forward replacements Snyman and Koch).

Experience could prove crucial

“This may not have much significance, but the fact remains that these players have been here before, and they know what it will take to defeat a top-quality team such as England,” added the coach.

“Competition for places in the team is very tight and the coaches had a few in depth discussions before finalising the team.

“We have players like Lukhanyo Am, Canan Moodie, Andre Esterhuizen, Jasper Wiese, Jean Kleyn, and the list goes on, who are all good enough to be in this team and would have fitted in and done the job just well as the other players.

“But we can only select 23 and everyone in this group is aligned and understands that the country comes first.

“We are playing for our friends, family and the 60 million people at home who have been supporting us through thick and thin and we are determined to continue giving them hope and something to smile about.”

Nienaber is preparing his troops for a massive challenge from England.

“They come off five victories in a row and they are high on confidence,” he said. “They have a quality pack and world-class backs who can create magic on the field, and those who are writing them off are making a major mistake.

“Like us, they are one game away from a World Cup final and we’ve seen through the history of the tournament that England raise their game for these matches. If we lose, we have to play the third-place playoff – which no team wants to do.

“We are closely matched in terms of average player age and caps, both teams are used to playing on the biggest stage. This is do-or-die if either of wants to the lift the trophy next week, so neither side will give an inch.”

Springboks team to face England

South Africa: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Cheslin Kolbe, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Steven Kitshoff
Replacements: 16 Deon Fourie, 17 Ox Nche, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Faf de Klerk, 22 Handre Pollard, 23 Willie le Roux

Date: Saturday, October 21
Venue: Stade de France, Saint-Denis
Kick-off: 21:00 local (20:00 BST, 19:00 GMT)
Referee: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand)
Assistant Referees: Andrew Brace (Ireland), Paul Williams (New Zealand)
TMO: Brendon Pickerill (New Zealand)

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