Willie le Roux will play in his 97th Test this weekend. Picture: Anton Geyser/Gallo Images
Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has given his team a bit of a shakeup for Saturday’s Rugby Championship Test against the All Blacks in Cape Town.
The team shows seven changes, two of them positional, from the side that beat the All Blacks 31-27 at Ellis Park last weekend. A win would just about secure the competition title for the world champions.
These are the five Bok players who’ll be in the spotlight on Saturday.
Erasmus has openly stated the veteran fullback’s role in the team is now different to what it once was, that Le Roux is now playing a big mentoring role for the younger players. However, the 35-year-old has been picked to start this weekend in his 97th Test with his coaches hoping he’ll bring calm and experience to the back division.
Le Roux’s reading of the game and his linking with the backs in attack should not be underestimated and he’s sure to be determined to make a big impression.
With Aphelele Fassi in great form though, but left out of the match-23 this week, Le Roux’s under pressure to deliver.
It’s always hard coming back after a long injury layoff, but the young back has at least had good game time with the Bulls so should be up to speed and match fit.
He entered Test rugby with a real bang two years ago and expectations are he will bring some X-factor to the team, so he too, will be closely watched at the Cape Town Stadium, especially as the replacement for the concussed try machine Kurt-Lee Arendse.
Moodie’s size and speed though give the Boks something different out wide, but he’s in for a big test trying to keep Mark Tele’a in check.
It’s almost unthinkable to consider a player of Pollard’s class to be playing for his Bok position, but that’s exactly what the situation is following the emergence of Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu this season.
Erasmus said this week he wanted an experienced operator at No 10 for such a big match and settled on the known ability of Pollard in big Tests … let’s not forget how he steered the Boks to three consecutive one-point victories at the World Cup last year.
The reality though is Pollard needs a big Test today to put everyone at ease that he’s still got it and can lead the Bok backline.
The nippy scrumhalf has played just 14 Tests, most of them from off the bench, and some even out wide on the wing, but he gets a rare start in Cape Town against the dangerous All Blacks, and an opportunity to really show what he can do.
With Faf de Klerk injured, and before that out of form, and Cobus Reinach getting on, the Boks are definitely looking for a few new No 9s to take them into the future.
Morne van den Berg’s selection this year and the return to fitness of Jaden Hendrikse, who plays off the bench this weekend, have ramped up the pressure on Williams.
The 30-year-old is far from being done with international rugby, but injuries at key times in his career haven’t helped him become a regular in the Bok team and again he’s fighting to win back a starting place.
Jesse Kriel is now almost entrenched alongside Damian de Allende in midfield, leaving Am having to play off the bench, or not at all. He gets a chance again this weekend and he is sure to want to remind rugby viewers and his coaches of his unique skills and abilities in the backs, whether at 12, 13 or out wide.
Am’s a classy operator who’ll be itching to enter the action from the bench on Saturday.
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