URC familiarity key in Moerat, Orie selection for Boks — Nienaber

The Springboks paid the ultimate respect to Italy by making limited changes to their team for their important must-win end-of-year-tour clash at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris in Genoa on Saturday afternoon.

The Boks made just four changes to the starting XV that was edged by France over the past weekend, with a new lock pairing in Salmaan Moerat and Marvin Orie, which allows Eben Etzebeth to have a bit of a breather, with him set to play off the bench.

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Franco Mostert has shifted from lock to flank in place of Pieter-Steph du Toit, who is expected to receive a ban due to the red card he picked up against France, although his hearing which was supposed to be on Tuesday is now happening on Wednesday, as confirmed by Bok coach Jacques Nienaber.

Jasper Wiese then returns to eighthman having recovered from his concussion, with Kwagga Smith dropping back to the bench, while Andre Esterhuizen slots in at inside centre, alongside Damian de Allende who shifts to outside, with Jesse Kriel dropping out of the match 23.

Speaking about the rookie pairing of Moerat and Orie, with two and eight caps respectively and who know each other extensively as they are team-mates at the Stormers and won the United Rugby Championship together, Nienaber admitted that played a part in their selection.

“That came up in the selection meeting when we discussed it. Salmaan has been training really well and deserves this opportunity. We could have done it in a way that we only put Salmaan in and play him with Sous (Franco Mostert), or only put Marvin in and play him with Eben,” said Nienaber.

“But we felt their combination at URC level gave us the opportunity to start with both of them, and the nice thing is you still have Sous there playing at seven and Eben that can come off the bench.”

Exciting combination

Nienaber is also excited to see the centre combination of Esterhuizen and De Allende, which will bring a different dimension to the Boks game.

“In terms of Andre, Jesse has done well, but some of our players won’t be available for the England match because it’s out of the Test window. Andre is one of them and has been with us the whole (international) season. He has been training well and deserves a chance,” said Nienaber.

“We always earmarked this game, that if there weren’t any injuries, we would give him a proper go. We also think the combination of Andre with Damian is a great combination, especially facing a side like Italy, so we are looking forward to seeing them in action together.”

There had been doubts over the fitness of Bok wing Cheslin Kolbe, who had been taken out dangerously in the air by French scrumhalf Antoine Dupont, which saw him sent off and hooker Mlacolm Marx, but both made it into the match 23.

Nienaber was also quizzed on the readiness of replacement flyhalf Manie Libbok getting a start, and admitted that he was ready should anything happen to the current first choice Damian Willemse.

“Cheslin had an HIA and went through the normal protocol and has been cleared. Malcom took a knock to his knee (against France), but trained the whole session yesterday so he is good to go,” said Nienaber.

“Manie is one injury away from starting, if I can put it like that. He is our backup 10 currently, so he is really close.

“Like I said last week the reason we selected him is he is training really well. It is now the fourth or fifth week he has been with us and he is comfortable in the system and growing in our environment.”