Springbok lock Eben Etzebeth has been cleared to face New Zealand at Emirates Airline Park on Saturday after finishing all of the coaching periods this week and has been drafted onto the replacements bench for the Citadel Lager Rugby Championship encounter, whereas Rassie Erasmus has launched 4 gamers to their Carling Currie Cup groups to get some worthwhile recreation time this weekend,” an SA Rugby assertion mentioned.
Etzebeth, who was initially excluded from the Boks’ match-23 for the primary of two Checks in opposition to their southern hemisphere arch-rivals because of an damage concern earlier within the week, replaces Marco van Staden on the bench, which gives the staff specialist lock cowl for the beginning mixture of Pieter-Steph du Toit and Ruan Nortje.
Etzebeth is about to win his a hundred and twenty fifth cap within the inexperienced and gold jersey, which can see him leapfrog Bryan Habana because the second-most-capped Springbok of all time behind Victor Matfield.
“Our choice coverage has all the time been that if a participant doesn’t practice on a Monday he is not going to play on Saturday, however Eben has made it by coaching pain-free all week, so we needed to make the powerful name to call him within the squad on the expense of Marco,” mentioned Erasmus.
“There have been back-up choices for us at lock within the preliminary squad, however with Eben on the bench, it means we have now one other specialist in that place within the staff.
“We’re blessed to have an expanded squad of about 45 gamers who’ve all purchased into our plans and who perceive what’s finest for the staff, and it’s admirable how Marco accepted the information. It exhibits the standard of the participant and the particular person he’s.”
Revised Springbok staff to face New Zealand in Johannesburg:
15 – Aphelele Fassi (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 6 caps, 15 factors (3t)
14 – Cheslin Kolbe (Suntory Sungoliath) – 35 caps, 96 factors (15t, 3c, 5p)
13 – Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles) – 73 caps, 80 factors (16t)
12 – Damian de Allende (Wild Knights) – 82 caps, 55 factors (11t)
11 – Kurt-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls) – 19 caps, 85 factors (17t)
10 – Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (DHL Stormers) – 6 caps, 33 factors (12c, 3p)
9 – Cobus Reinach (Montpellier) – 34 caps, 65 factors (13t)
8 – Jasper Wiese (Urayasu D-Rocks) – 27 caps, 5 factors (1t)
7 – Ben-Jason Dixon (DHL Stormers) – 3 caps, 5 factors (1t)
6 – Siya Kolisi (captain, Racing 92) – 86 caps, 55 factors (11t)
5 – Ruan Nortje (Vodacom Bulls) – 2 caps, 0 factors
4 – Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz) – 81 caps, 45 factors (9t)
3 – Frans Malherbe (DHL Stormers) – 73 caps, 5 factors (1t)
2 – Bongi Mbonambi (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 72 caps, 70 factors (14t)
1 – Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 33 caps, 0 factors
Replacements:
16 – Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) – 69 caps, 95 factors (19t)
17 – Gerhard Steenekamp (Vodacom Bulls) – 4 caps, 0 factors
18 – Vincent Koch (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 54 caps, 0 factors
19 – Eben Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 124 caps, 30 factors (6t)
20 – Elrigh Louw (Vodacom Bulls) – 6 caps, 0 factors
21 – Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs) – 45 caps, 40 factors (8t)
22 – Grant Williams (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 13 caps, 10 factors (2t)
23 – Handre Pollard (Leicester Tigers) – 73 caps, 734 factors (7t, 99c, 162p, 5dg)
