Springbok prop Boan Venter will start Saturday’s Rugby Championship clash against Argentina at Hollywoodbets Kings Park, with Marco van Staden being drafted onto the bench, following the withdrawal of Ox Nche from the team on Friday due to a niggle.
Back-up prop
Nche’s withdrawal necessitated the move of Venter, who was initially named among the replacements, to the starting front row alongside Malcolm Marx and Thomas du Toit, while Jan-Hendrik Wessels will serve as the back-up prop, with Van Staden providing hooker cover off the bench.
Similarly to Wessels, who can switch equally efficiently between prop and hooker, Van Staden can shift comfortably between flanker and hooker, which he proved at the 2023 Rugby World Cup.
Kick-off is at 17:10.
TEAMS
South Africa – revised
15 Damian Willemse, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Ethan Hooker, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Boan Venter
Replacements: 16 Marco van Staden, 17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Morné van den Berg, 22 Manie Libbok, 23 Andre Esterhuizen
Argentina
15 Juan Cruz Mallía, 14 Rodrigo Isgró, 13 Lucio Cinti, 12 Santiago Chocobares, 11 Mateo Carreras, 10 Santiago Carreras, 9 Gonzalo García, 8 Joaquín Oviedo, 7 Marcos Kremer, 6 Pablo Matera, 5 Lucas Paulos, 4 Franco Molina, 3 Joel Sclavi, 2 Julián Montoya (captain), 1 Mayco Vivas
Replacements: 16 Ignacio Ruiz, 17 Boris Wenger, 18 Francisco Coria Marchetti, 19 Guido Petti, 20 Pedro Rubiolo, 21 Juan Martín González, 22 Simón Benítez Cruz, 23 Tomás Albornoz
Date: Saturday, 27 September
Venue: Kings Park, Durban
Kick-off: 17:10
Referee: Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant referees: Pierre Brousset (France), Angus Mabey (New Zealand)
TMO: Brett Cronan (Australia)
