Springbok team named for first Ireland Test: Kwagga at eighthman, Pollard at 10

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has named his team, packed with World Cup stars, to take on Ireland in the first of two Tests at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday.

Siya Kolisi, who plays his club rugby for Racing 92 in Paris, will captain the team from the side of the scrum and is joined in the back row by Pieter-Steph du Toit and Kwagga Smith at No 8.

Smith beat out the challenge of Stormers man Evan Roos for the eighthman position, with Jasper Wiese unavailable and Duane Vermeulen now retired.

Mbonambi at hooker

In the other key selections, Erasmus has opted to go with Handre Pollard at flyhalf and Faf de Klerk at scrumhalf.

Bongi Mbonambi has also won the battle for the No 2 jersey, with Malcolm Marx on the bench.

All 15 starters featured prominently for the Boks at last year’s World Cup in France. In fact, 20 of the 23 players who’ll feature on Saturday, were part of the Bok group at the World Cup, with Salmaan Moerat, Gerhard Steenekamp and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu the “new players” in the team for Saturday’s match.

On the bench, Bulls prop Steenekamp gets a chance to earn a second Test cap, while Grant Williams and Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who made his debut against Wales two weekends ago, are the only two backs replacements.

Williams and Feinberg-Mngomezulu cover all the positions in the backline.

Squad depth

Twelve of the starting XV for Saturday’s match (six forwards and six backs) started in the 12-11 World Cup final win over New Zealand, with the other three (Willie le Roux, Kwagga Smith and Ox Nche) coming off the bench in the final.

The selection of previously unavailable players (for the match against Wales in London just under two weeks ago) means that the team shows eight changes to the one that won 41-13 in London.

“This is the team we believe will give us the impetus we need against Ireland, who are the second highest ranked team in the world,” said Erasmus.

“We are blessed to have a lot of depth in our squad, and we are in a fortunate position to have several Rugby World Cup winners in our ranks who know what it takes to perform at the highest level and play against the best teams in the world.

“The fact that most of these guys have played together is a bonus for us, and most of them have faced Ireland before so they are well aware of the challenge that lies ahead, especially since we haven’t beaten them since 2016.”

Bok team

Willie le Roux, Cheslin Kolbe, Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Handré Pollard, Faf de Klerk, Kwagga Smith, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi (capt), Franco Mostert, Eben Etzebeth, Frans Malherbe, Bongi Mbonambi, Ox Nche. Bench: Malcolm Marx, Gerhard Steenekamp, Vincent Koch, Salmaan Moerat, RG Snyman, Marco van Staden, Grant Williams, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu