Eben Etzebeth is already widely regarded as the greatest Springbok of all time, with the double World Cup winner having racked up 136 Test appearances to date.
Although the Springboks made a host of changes to the backline for this Saturday’s ‘rematch’ against the All Blacks, the pack remained largely intact, except for the surprise omission of Etzebeth.
The 33-year-old has perhaps not been at his menacing best so far this season, but for a game of this magnitude, it was expected that Etzebeth would be in the mix.
Instead, the Springbok coaches opted to pair Ruan Nortje and Lood de Jager in the second row, with RG Snyman providing lock cover on the bench.
Speaking about this decision, and the omission of Etzebeth, Springbok ‘mobi-unit’ coach Duane Vermeulensaid this option served many purposes for the coaching staff.
“You can’t play a guy like Eben (Etzebeth) every week because he’ll burn out, and we still want him to play for a few years, so one needs a little bit of rotation,” said Vermeulen.
“We have an experienced guy like RG on the bench, who has played in big matches, and Ruan did well last year when he got the chance at a time when we had a few injuries at lock.
“It may seem a little weird to have two No 5 locks in the pack, but they’ve both played their part, and they know what they want to do. I also think it will be a good opportunity to see if these guys can make the step up and play without Eben.”
EBEN ETZEBETH WAS OMITTED FROM A NEW-LOOK SPRINGBOK TEAM
South Africa: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 Damian Willemse, 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 Lood de Jager, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche.
Replacements: 16 Marnus van der Merwe, 17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Grant Williams, 22 Manie Libbok, 23 Andre Esterhuizen.
Date: Saturday, September 8
Venue: Wellington Regional Stadium
Kick-off: 09.05 (SA time)
Referee: Nika Amashukeli (Georgia)
Assistant referees: Angus Gardner (Australia), Jordan Way (Australia)
TMO: Eric Gauzins (France)
Stats and facts:
Springbok record against New Zealand:
Played: 109, Won: 42, Lost: 63, Drawn: 4. Points for: 1 807; Points against: 2 259; Tries scored: 175; Tries conceded: 247. Win %: 38.6%.
WHAT IS YOUR SCORE PREDICTION?
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