Springboks team: Siya Kolisi to miss All Blacks opener while Rassie Erasmus makes key fly-half call
Springboks captain Siya Kolisi, who will miss first All Blacks Test, and head coach Rassie Erasmus.
Springboks captain Siya Kolisi will miss the opening Test of Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry due to a hamstring injury with Pieter-Steph du Toit leading in his absence.
Rassie Erasmus opted to delay the naming of his side in order to further assess how the flanker’s recovery is going after being withdrawn against Argentina, but they have decided to take a “precautionary approach”.
Inexperienced loose forward Paul de Villiers, who only made his Test debut in July, is Kolisi’s replacement while fellow flanker Du Toit will lead the team against the All Blacks. The back-row is completed by number eight Jasper Wiese in a pack which looks typically powerful.
“Siya trained well with us this week, and although we could have selected him for this clash, we thought it would be best to select Paul (de Villiers) for this weekend’s game,” Erasmus said.
“We are playing four Tests against the All Blacks and Paul has been playing well, so we are excited to give him a chance this weekend in what will be his first Test match against New Zealand, while taking a precautionary approach to Siya’s return.
“We have a solid group of players, and each one of them deserves their places in the squad, so we will approach team selection week by week.”
Damian de Allende’s milestone
Du Toit will earn his 99th Springboks cap on Saturday but Damian de Allende will go one better and hit the century after being selected at inside centre.
“We are all very excited for Damian, and to achieve this milestone in this series makes it even more special,” Erasmus said.
“He’s a great team man, and servant to the game, so we hope we can make it a memorable day for him. That said, his focus all week has only been on this match, and he will certainly not let the occasion shadow what he has to do on the field.”
De Allende will once again partner Jesse Kriel in the midfield, in a backline which shows few surprises.
Damian Willemse, Cheslin Kolbe and Kurt-Lee Arendse combine in the back three while Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Grant Williams get the nod over Manie Libbok and Cobus Reinach respectively in the playmaking positions.
In the front five, after getting through 80 minutes in South America, Eben Etzebeth is fit enough to start this weekend and he joins lineout linchpin Ruan Nortje at lock.
Etzebeth will interestingly not scrummage behind Thomas du Toit, however, with Wilco Louw the preferred option to start at tighthead. He partners hooker Malcolm Marx and loosehead Ox Nche in the front-row.
Springboks Bomb Squad
Meanwhile, on the bench, the Springboks have effectively managed to selected both a 6-2 and 5-3 split thanks to the presence of hybrid player Andre Esterhuizen.
Able to play at both centre and loose forward, Esterhuizen wears the 20 jersey with Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Gerhard Steenekamp, Zachary Porthen, Cobus Wiese and Marco van Staden the forward replacements, while Reinach and Libbok cover the backs.
“The All Blacks are a quality team, and we selected combinations we think would be best suited for the challenge this weekend,” Erasmus said.
“The squad is well balanced with players who remained in South Africa to train for this series and some of the players who featured against Argentina.
“It certainly helped to have some players return from injury last week and to get back into top-flight Test rugby, while some of the others who had a heavy workload in the Nations Championship had sufficient time to recover from the physical toll on them.
“The whole group has now been together for over a week, and we are all aligned regarding the way we want to play this weekend.”
Springboks team to face the All Blacks
Springboks: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Grant Williams 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit (c), 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Zachary Porthen, 19 Cobus Wiese, 20 Andre Esterhuizen, 21 Marco van Staden, 22 Cobus Reinach, 23 Manie Libbok
Venue: Ellis Park, Johannesburg
Date: Saturday, 22 August, 2026
Kick-off: 17:10 (local SAST), 16:10 (UK), 17:10 (France), 17:10 (South Africa), 01:10 (23 August, AEST), 03:10 (23 August, New Zealand), 12:10 (Argentina), 00:10 (23 August, JST), 11:10 (EDT)
Referee: Matthew Carley (RFU)
Assistant Referees: Karl Dickson (RFU), Nika Amashukeli (GRU)
TMO: Mike Adamson (SRU)
FPRO: Eric Gauzins (FFR)
