De Klerk, Pollard start as Boks go 7-1 on bench for All Blacks in World Cup final

Coach Jacques Nienaber has announced his Springbok team to take on the All Blacks in the Rugby World Cup final in Paris on Saturday night, with kick-off at 9pm.

Faf de Klerk and Handre Pollard, who played off the bench in the quarter-final and semi-final wins against France and England respectively, are included in the starting team, with Cobus Reinach and Manie Libbok dropped.

7-1 bench

The Boks have also opted to go with a split of seven forwards and one back on their bench, including Jean Kleyn and Jasper Wiese, who did not feature against England.

Willie le Roux is the only backline player on the bench.

It is the most experienced Bok team ever picked.

Ten players in the starting XV started in the final in Yokohama against England four years ago. In total there are 987 caps in the side.

A further four players on the bench also featured in the match-23 in the final at Yokohama Stadium, while 15 of the players in the matchday squad appeared in the Springboks’ 35-7 victory the last time South Africa and New Zealand met at Twickenham in August.

Only two players in Nienaber’s forward pack did not start the 2019 final – lock Franco Mostert and prop Steven Kitshoff – with both playing off the bench four years ago.

Bongi Mbonambi, who has been at the centre of a racial slur allegation, has been included in the team. It has been learned that World Rugby found no evidence of any slur on the hooker’s part, stemming from last weekend’s semi-final match in which England’s Tom Curry raised the matter with the referee, Ben O’Keeffe.

The team is:

Damian Willemse, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende, Cheslin Kolbe, Handre Pollard, Faf de Klerk, Duane Vermeulen, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi (capt), Franco Mostert, Eben Etzebeth, Frans Malherbe, Bongi Mbonambi, Steven Kitshoff. Bench: Deon Fourie, Ox Nche, Trevor Nyakane, Jean Kleyn, RG Snyman, Kwagga Smith, Jasper Wiese, Willie le Roux

‘Proven worth’

“This is an experienced team with several players who played in the last Rugby World Cup final and who know exactly what to expect at Stade de France on Saturday and what it will take to retain the title,” said Nienaber.

“The players who will be playing in their first World Cup final have also proven their worth as warriors throughout this campaign and they are all ready for this massive occasion.

“We have said many times that we pick teams for varying gameplans depending on the opponent and that we use all 23 players to try and achieve those goals.

“We’ve gone from a five-three bench split to a seven-one split to give us the best chance of being successful. We have plans in place to mitigate for injuries in the backline, but we’re excited about our plan and we embrace the risk.”