Rassie Erasmus rings the Springbok changes for ‘tough’ Italy clash as Willie le Roux reaches 100 Tests in Gqeberha

Springbok head coach Rassie Erasmus is not a man who deviates from his word, and as promised, the Bok guru made wholesale changes to the side that will take on Italy in the second clash in Gqeberha on Saturday.

While Erasmus was not too pleased with the team’s performance in the opening clash at Loftus Versfeld this past weekend, he admitted on Tuesday that the overhauled side is not due to the ‘below par’ 42-24 victory, but more out of respect for Italy. He still selected a strong side with 493 caps in the starting XV as fullback Willie le Roux will play in his 100th Springbok Test.

Only seven players survived the axe after the Pretoria duel and Erasmus confirmed they had some different plans for certain players for this weekend in the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium (5.10 pm kick-off), but those guys will now get an opportunity next week against Georgia in the final mid-year Test.

Le Roux, who played off the bench last weekend, forms a changed back-three with newcomer Edwill van der Merwe and veteran Makazole Mapimpi who is three Tests away from his 50th cap for the world champions. Mapimpi, who has been a mainstay in the Bok squad under Erasmus, should reach that milestone this year.

“Two or three guys (initially earmarked for the second Test) missed out this week,” Erasmus confirmed at his team announcement on Tuesday.

“But they will get a chance next week. We scored 42 points and two tries were disallowed. Our attack wasn’t too bad, but when we were 28-3 up, you could see a bit of relaxation, and we thought things would go smoothly. That is not something you would expect from a team with that number of caps (between them).

“We had that disallowed try after halftime and that would’ve put us up 35-3 and we could’ve put them under the pump. Italy then really played well, and we played poorly. That team (last weekend’s) didn’t attack badly. Damian (Willemse), Jesse (Kriel), and Kurt-Lee (Arendse) were good. Kurt-Lee and Cheslin (Kolbe) had the most carries for us in the last two games, and the ball went wide, and we scored some good tries.”

Three uncapped players are in line for their Test debut off the bench. Only tighthead Asenathi Ntlabakanye has had a taste of Bok rugby after featuring against the Barbarians, while Cobus Wiese is set to play his first game alongside utility back Ethan Hooker.

Should Wiese make his appearance, he and brother Jasper, Springbok eighth man, will become the 37th pair of brothers to play for the Springboks. They will follow in the footsteps of Jaden and Jordan Hendrikse. Le Roux will become the 8th player to reach a centurion of caps for the national team.

In the absence of Siya Kolisi, who missed the last two games with an injury, Salmaan Moerat will lead the Boks with regular outside centre Jesse Kriel missing out. Moerat partners fellow lock rookie Ruan Nortjé in the second row.

On the Italian challenge, Erasmus said they had time to study the opposition after last week’s duel, and they have a clearer picture of their new players.

“They will come hard at us and deliver another passionate performance, but we also have high standards as a team, and we know that we need to shift into a different gear this weekend to produce a performance we can be proud of.

 “We had an honest and thorough review of last week’s game, and we know that we must improve in every department to get the desired result and do everything we can to make this game special for Willie, the debutantes, and the country.”

Springboks XV

15 Willie le Roux, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Ruan Nortjé, 4 Salmaan Moerat (captain), 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Thomas du Toit. Replacements:16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Ox Nché, 18 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 19 Cobus Wiese, 20 Evan Roos,21 Cobus Reinach,22 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 23 Ethan Hooker.