Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Elrigh Louw start for Boks
Only six Springboks have been retained in the squad that beat Portugal at the end of July.
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Elrigh Louw will make their first Test starts for the Springboks in the Rugby Championship opener against the Wallabies in Brisbane on Saturday.
The match-23 features only three changes from the group that faced the Irish, with the only new players being Louw (No 8), two-time world cup-winning scrumhalf Cobus Reinach, and replacement utility forward Ben-Jason Dixon.
Rassie Erasmus has elevated the 22-year-old Feinberg-Mngomezulu to start at flyhalf after four appearances off the bench this season (coming on at either flyhalf or fullback), while Louw starts at No 8 after four replacement appearances since his debut at the start of the 2022 season.
Only six players are retained in the squad from the 64-21 win over Portugal at the end of July – Louw, Reinach, Dixon, Feinberg-Mngomezulu, RG Snyman (lock) and Kurt-Lee Arendse (wing).
The new halfback combination sees Reinach continue in the No 9 jumper in place of the Faf de Klerk, who is nursing a niggle, while experienced flyhalf Handré Pollard provides cover off the replacements’ bench, along with Grant Williams, who serves as back-up at scrumhalf and wing, in a six-two split in favour of the forwards.
Erasmus, who said that Snyman had picked up a niggle at training on Tuesday and will be monitored for the rest of the week, again named a powerful bomb squad with a front row of Malcolm Marx (hooker), Gerhard Steenekamp and Vincent Koch (both props), alongside Dixon, Marco van Staden and Kwagga Smith.
Springboks: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Elrigh Louw, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 RG Snyman, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche.
Subs: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Ben-Jason Dixon, 20 Marco van Staden, 21 Kwagga Smith, 22 Grant Williams, 23 Handré Pollard.
This article was first published on SA Rugby magazine.
