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Boks keen to do it for Eben and Bongi as they reach respective milestones
As expected the Boks have reverted to their strongest side, although with one or two surprises, with most of the players from the first Test win slotting back in.
Eben Etzebeth and Bongi Mbonambi are set to make their 100th and 50th appearance respectively for South Africa in the third Test against Wales in Cape Town. Picture: Steve Haag/Gallo Images
The Springboks are eager to clinch a strong third Test win against Wales in Cape Town this weekend, to seal the series and celebrate in style as stalwarts Eben Etzebeth and Bongi Mbonambi bring up their 100th and 50th caps for the team respectively.
Bok coach Jacques Nienaber named his squad for the final Test on Tuesday, with Etzebeth retaining his place at lock, with him the only player to have started every match against Wales this series, and he will look to put in a massive performance on his landmark appearance.
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“We are very proud of Eben and Bongi for their achievements, although it would be remiss of us as a team for that to out-shadow the fact that we need to win on Saturday to seal the series against Wales,” said Nienaber.
“Eben and Bongi have been true stalwarts to Springbok rugby, and we hope that we can make this a special occasion for them. No-one wants to remember losing their 100th or 50th Test, so we need to do everything we can to win the match.”
Strongest Springboks line-up
As expected the Boks have reverted to their strongest side, although with one or two surprises, with most of the players from the first Test win slotting back in.
The big surprise was young scrumhalf Jaden Hendrikse retaining his spot from the second Test ahead of Faf de Klerk who will play off the bench.
The rest of the backline is as expected, with Handre Pollard keeping his place at flyhalf, while he is joined by the same line-up from the first Test.
In the forwards Pieter-Steph du Toit place on the side of the scrum , while the only other change from the first Test group sees prop Trevor Nyakane make the shift from tighthead to loosehead, with Ox Nche the unlucky player to miss out on selection in arguably the Boks strongest department.
On Hendrikse’s selection, Nienaber admitted that the coaching staff was impressed with his assured display in the second Test which got him the nod to keep the starting jersey.
“We all know what Faf bring. Lots of experience and he’s a world class scrumhalf. But you saw Jaden’s performance last weekend. We as a coaching group and selectors thought he performed well,” explained Nienaber.
“He had a well-balanced game. He had a good kicking game, his passing accuracy was really good, he got nice rhythm on our attack and his defence was strong. So he impressed in all aspects of his game.
“The challenge for Jaden now is to continue putting in consistent performances like he did this past weekend because Faf is a fighter and he will be coming hard at him to get his spot back.”
