South Africa make 10 changes for Perth Test against Australia
Cheslin Kolbe retains his place at right wing for South Africa
©Steve Haag
South Africa head coach Rassie Erasmus has made wholesale changes for the second round of the Rugby Championship game to be played in Perth on Saturday.
Cheslin Kolbe, Jesse Kriel, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Elrigh Louw and Pieter-Steph du Toit are the only players retaining their places in the starting line up from their victorious encounter in Brisbane.
Aphelele Fassi replaces Willie Le Roux at fullback while Makazole Mapimpi returns to left wing with Kolbe retaining his place at right. Lukhanyo Am returns to midfield joining Jesse Kriel.
Morne van den Berg will earn his first Test start as he is positioned at scrum half while du Toit moves from lock to flanker. Salmaan Moerat will captain the side in the absence of Siya Kolisi and will be joined in the second row by Ruan Nortje.
Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Thomas du Toit and Johan Grobbelaar will form the front row while the bench boasts experience of Malcolm Marx, Ox Nche, Vincent Koch, Eben Etzebeth, Kwagga Smith, Grant Williams, Manie Libbok and Handre Pollard.
“They will be desperate to come back strongly from last week’s defeat and I have no doubt that Joe Schmidt [Australian head coach] will select a team that is fired up and who will give everything to turn things around and get their campaign back on track," said Erasmus.
“They are a proud nation and they’ll be highly motivated to continue their impressive home win record against us in Australia, so we’re fully aware of the challenge.
“But we’re also determined to continue building on the changes we’ve made since the end of the 2022 season [in which the Boks have only suffered three defeats in 20 matches] and we have a determined and enthusiastic group of players who also have a lot to play for.
“This is a massive match for us because if we can build on last week, it will give us a good chance to be in the mix for the title which we last won in 2019.”
South Africa: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Lukhanyo Am, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Morne van den Berg, 8 Elrigh Louw, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Salmaan Moerat (captain), 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Jan-Hendrik Wessels.
Reserves: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Ox Nche, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Eben Etzebeth, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Grant Williams, 22 Manie Libbok, 23 Handré Pollard.
