Boks adds 'Sous' for Puma steaks
TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus made just one change to his team for their Rugby Championship Round Two match.
The return of Franco Mostert at lock is the only change in the Springbok starting team for the clash against Argentina in Mendoza on Saturday.
Mostert was rested for last weekend’s Springbok victory over the Pumas in Durban, following his heavy workload so far this year.
He comes back into the starting team for Saturday’s Test and will form a second row partnership with Eben Etzebeth, which sees Pieter-Steph du Toit moving to the bench as cover.
There are two more changes amongst the forward replacements.
Rudolph Snyman (lock) makes a return to the matchday 23 in place of Marvin Orie, who is not touring, while Wilco Louw (prop) rotates places with Thomas du Toit.
“Franco needed to rest after Super Rugby and the June internationals and we, therefore, didn’t consider him for Durban,”Erasmus said.
“He’s been our first-choice No 5 lock and that’s why is starting on Saturday.”
Erasmus kept his backline unchanged and also resisted the temptation to tweak his loose forward combination.
“I want to us to build more continuity and those combinations now have another opportunity to play together and gain more experience,” said Erasmus.
Regarding Saturday’s challenge against Argentina, Erasmus said: “We’ve always rated them as a very physical team and we felt the game [in Durban] was physical. They’re going to step it up and I think they will come hard at our mauling, scrums and the breakdowns.”
The Springboks travel to Mendoza on Friday where they will conclude their match preparations.
South Africa: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Makazole Mapimpi, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 André Esterhuizen, 11 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Francois de Klerk, 8 Warren Whiteley, 7 Siya Kolisi (captain), 6 Francois Louw, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Mbongeni Mbonambi, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Rudolph Snyman, 20 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Lionel Mapoe, 23 Damian Willemse.
Date: Saturday, August 25
Venue: Estadio Malvinas Argentina, Mendoza
Kick-off: 16.10 (21.10 SA time; 19.10 GMT)
Referee: Angus Gardner (Australia)
Assistant referees: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand), Andrew Brace (Ireland)
TMO: Simon McDowell (Ireland)
Rassie Erasmus has announced only one change to the Bok team to face @lospumas in Mendoza on Saturday, with Franco Mostert coming in at lock. Pieter-Steph du Toit, RG Snyman and Wilco Louw are on the bench. #LoveRugby pic.twitter.com/l1GGIsKvj8
— South African Rugby (@Springboks) August 23, 2018
