Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer on Wednesday named the same starting line-up that beat the Wallabies last weekend for Saturday’s Test in The Castle Rugby Championship against the All Blacks at Soccer City in Soweto.
It’s the first time this season that the Springboks will field an unchanged starting team for consecutive Tests. The team is the same as the one that beat Australia by 31-8 in Pretoria last weekend. The only change is on the bench, where Coenie Oosthuizen takes over from Pat Cilliers as prop replacement.
The last time the Springboks started two consecutive Tests with the same starting XV, was in 2009 in the home victories over New Zealand (31-19 in Durban on August 1) and Australia (29-17 in Cape Town on August 8).
“It’s always a good thing if you don’t have to make any changes and after the late replacements we had to call in last week, it’s especially nice to be able to select an unchanged starting team for Saturday’s Test,” said Meyer.
“We’ve been hit hard by injuries this year, but thanks to the great work done by our medical team, we’ve managed to sort out a few of the little niggles left over from the Wallaby match for our final Test on home soil this year.
“Last week’s win was very satisfying, but we all know we will have to make another step up against New Zealand on Saturday. They recorded a good win in Argentina and will be confident, but so are we.”
The Springbok starting XV has a combined total of 430 Test caps – 162 amongst the forwards and 268 amongst the backs.
The Springbok team to face New Zealand in Soweto is:
(With Test caps in brackets)
15. Zane Kirchner (Vodacom Blue Bulls – 20 caps)
14. Bryan Habana (DHL Western Province – 82 caps)
13. Jaco Taute (MTN Golden Lions – 1 cap)
12. Jean de Villiers (DHL Western Province – 80 caps, captain)
11. Francois Hougaard (Vodacom Blue Bulls – 23 caps)
10. Johan Goosen (Toyota FS Cheetahs – 3 caps)
9. Ruan Pienaar (Ulster, N-Ireland – 59 caps)
8. Duane Vermeulen (DHL Western Province – 3 caps)
7. Willem Alberts (The Sharks – 16 caps)
6. Francois Louw (Bath, England – 13 caps)
5. Andries Bekker (DHL Western Province – 28 caps)
4. Eben Etzebeth (DHL Western Province – 7 caps)
3. Jannie du Plessis (The Sharks – 38 caps)
2. Adriaan Strauss (Toyota FS Cheetahs – 17 caps, vice-captain)
1. Tendai Mtawarira (The Sharks – 40 caps)
RESERVES:
16. Tiaan Liebenberg (DHL Western Province – 4 caps)
17. Coenie Oosthuizen (Toyota FS Cheetahs – 1 cap)
18. Flip van der Merwe (Vodacom Blue Bulls – 19 caps)
19. Marcell Coetzee (The Sharks – 8 caps)
20. Elton Jantjies (MTN Golden Lions – 1 cap)
21. Juan de Jongh (DHL Western Province – 11 caps)
22. Pat Lambie (The Sharks – 16 caps)
Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Kick-off: 17h00