Springboks team winners and losers as Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu ‘stocks continue to rise’ and injury denies Bok ‘revelation’
Our winners and losers from Rassie Erasmus' Springboks squad to face Australia in Perth.
Following Rassie Erasmus’ Springboks team announcement for the second Rugby Championship Test match against Australia, here are our winners and losers.
The Bok boss has made the bold decision to make 10 changes to his starting XV and while he has stacked the bench with several Rugby World Cup winners, it is still a rather risky move.
Without further ado, here’s our winners and losers from the selection.
Winners
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu
Erasmus is yet to name a Springboks matchday 23 this year without Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, an impressive feat from the rookie who only made his Test debut against Wales. He will earn his sixth cap in Perth and second start off the back of a starring performance in Brisbane.
There is a real excitement around the in-form and brilliant youngster who oozes confidence and is seemingly getting better with every passing minute in the Green and Gold jumper. It’s not just the fans’ eye that he has caught with the Bok coaches clearly trusting him despite his youth. His stocks just continue to rise.
Handre Pollard
While Feinberg-Mngomezulu begins to make his mark on the number 10 jersey, his predecessor looks to be in the midst of a positional switch and to add more versatility to the Bok squad going forward and perhaps extend his international career. With Manie Libbok also included on the bench along with Pollard, the latter looks set to feature at inside centre again after doing so in Round One.
While it is clear that the Springboks are looking to the future with Feinberg-Mngomezulu and other young bucks getting their chance, they are not discarding the experienced heads and proven match-winners like Pollard.
Lukhanyo Am
A very interesting selection call from Erasmus and co. as Lukhanyo Am shifts into the number 12 jumper in place of Damian de Allende. When fit and firing, Am is regarded as one of the finest outside centres in the game and while it is well-known that he can move a channel inwards, few would have predicted it this weekend.
With Tony Brown’s attacking system seeing the Springboks regularly get the ball wide, Am’s brilliant distribution could be crucial on Saturday and going forward, he may well get more minutes in the number 12 jumper.
Marco van Staden
Marco van Staden will earn his 22nd cap for the Springboks on Saturday but it will be just his fourth start for the side having earned his other 18 caps from the bench.
It’s a rare opportunity for the livewire flanker who beats Kwagga Smith to the starting role, with Siya Kolisi rested for the fixture, but one that he thoroughly deserves after strong performances for the Bulls this season and bright cameos off the bench against Ireland and Australia.
Ruan Nortje
After missing out on his opportunity to start for the Springboks last week after RG Snyman’s injury, Ruan Nortje finally gets a first start for his country.
Over the past two or three seasons, there haven’t been many, if any, more consistent performers for a South African URC franchise than the hard-working Nortje. He was initially overlooked by the Springboks coaching team for the mid-year internationals but was parachuted into the team following Franco Mostert’s injury and now the Bulls star gets his chance to shine in Green and Gold.
A lineout general and tireless worker around the park, Nortje is eerily similar to Mostert and he will be hellbent on making the most of his start in the number five jumper.
Salmaan Moerat
Salmaan Moerat is clearly held in high regard by the Bok coaching team who have not only entrusted him with the iconic number four jersey but also the captaincy. Pieter-Steph du Toit skippered the Springboks in the latter stages of last week’s encounter and did so against Ireland too and despite him being in the starting XV, it is Moerat who will lead the side. That is a real testament to the leadership that the eight-Test cap lock possess.
A hard-nosed second-rower, Moerat hasn’t quite won over the Bok fans just yet but he is a tough customer and has the ability to become a long-term option at lock and as captain.
Jan-Hendrik Wessels
The Springboks scrum was on top form in Brisbane and coach Daan Human will be expecting the same if not better this week so the pressure will be on versatile front-rower Jan-Hendrik Wessels.
Wessels has the raw potential to become a Springboks centurion but Saturday’s clash will be his biggest litmus Test to date after debuting against Portugal. He spent much of the season playing hooker for the Bulls but earns another start at prop, getting the nod ahead of several quality front-rowers. The coaches clearly see his potential and now it is up to him to deliver on that.
Morne van den Berg
Morne van den Berg joins Nortje in earning his start for the Springbok as the Lions star continues his rapid rise off the back of a superb URC season. There is plenty of competition in the Bok scrum-half stocks and the coaching staff has clearly taken a likening to the livewire Faf de Klerk-esque number nine.
He is another who debuted against Portugal in July and surprisingly beats Grant Williams to the starting role as Cobus Reinach is rotated out of the squad.
Rassie Erasmus
Erasmus is not one to shy away from making bold decisions and he has proven that yet again this week. The Bok boss has said that South Africa are aiming to win the Rugby Championship this year but still has enough trust in his squad to give every fit player a run out Down Under.
To put in perspective how much of a risk the changed team is, last week Erasmus selected a starting XV with 836 Test caps plus 269 on the bench and this week those numbers drop right down to 332 and 419.
Malcolm Marx, Vincent Koch, Eben Etzebeth, Smith and Pollard’s inclusions on the bench bolster that last number and provide a good safety net and while Australia were poor last week, the Boks could face an entirely different beast in Perth.
Losers
RG Snyman
Snyman is the only squad member who will board the flight back to South Africa having not played a single minute in Australia. The second-rower was in fine form for the Springboks in the July internationals but unfortunately, injury has struck once again with a foot niggle ruling him out of the second Test.
The extremely gifted lock has had his fair share of injuries in his career, which Munster fans are well aware of, and hopefully for him this is just a short-term issue.
Gerhard Steenekamp
Gerhard Steenekamp is another who has been rested by the Bok coaching staff after standout performances off the bench this year. One cannot help but feel that the Bulls loosehead was deserving of earning a first Test start for the side but he will have to wait a little while longer.
Unfortunately, it could be a long while as Steven Kitshoff is fit once again and may well be thrown right back into the Bok squad when the side arrives back in the Republic.
Grant Williams
For the fifth time this year, Williams will feature off the bench for the Springboks as he continues his wait for a start in his preferred position. The lightening quick number nine did start last year’s Rugby Championship clash against Argentina at scrum-half but that lasted barely a minute before he was forced off the pitch and considering his form for South Africa so far this year, he can feel hard done by that all the changes didn’t include him earning another chance in a starting role.
Ben-Jason Dixon
A blockbuster performance against Australia last week came at a cost for Ben-Jason Dixon, who was a late call-up to the starting XV. The busy back-rower is nursing a niggle he sustained in the win over the Wallabies which has placed him on the rehabilitation list along with Snyman.
Dixon, like Feinberg-Mngomezulu, has been a revelation for the Springboks this year and hopefully makes a quick return.
Andre Esterhuizen
Andre Esterhuizen’s suspension is still in effect for this weekend’s encounter and one cannot help but assume that had he been available that he would have started in the number 12 jersey. Instead, the Boks have backed Am and will test Pollard in the role for a second week in a row.
Esterhuizen is a real superstar and has showed as much for Harlequins and the Boks in the past but with already stiff competition with De Allende for the role, the powerhouse centre will be feeling the pressure.
Perth faithful
Perth is renowned for the sheer number of South African expats who reside there and the stadium on Saturday could well be stacked with Green and Gold Bok jerseys.
They would have been raring to the see the likes of Kolisi and the other big-name stars in action on Saturday but it is not to be. Still, the opportunity to see some of the new fresh faces in the squad may get the blood pumping.
