Rassie rests his 'A -team' for Canada clash
TEAM ANNOUNCEMENT: The Springboks have made 13 changes to their starting XV for Tuesday’s match against Canada in Kobe to manage the four-day turnaround between their final two World Cup pool matches.
Captain Siya Kolisi and centre Damian de Allende reappear for a second successive start while five of the replacements from the victory over Italy (49-3) on Friday are promoted to the starting line-up. They are Frans Steyn (centre), Francois Louw (looseforward), Franco Mostert and RG Snyman (both locks) and Vincent Koch (prop).
Nine of the team that defeated Namibia 57-3 in City of Toyota in the preceding match regain a starting place while Damian Willemse – who arrived as an injury replacement from the UK on Thursday – goes straight into the starting line-up at fullback.
There are also first starts at the Rugby World Cup for Thomas du Toit (prop) and Cobus Reinach (scrumhalf), which means all the players in the RWC squad will have gotten starts by the end of the pool phase.
There are a number of positional changes in the backline, with Sbu Nkosi switching to the left wing, Warrick Gelant starting on the right wing and De Allende being given a start at outside centre.
The versatile Du Toit starts at loosehead prop, while Louw is at No 8 with Schalk Brits returning to his more usual No 2 jersey after appearing at the back of the scrum against Namibia.
A powerful looking bench includes five of the starting XV from the victory over Italy in Eben Etzebeth, Frans Malherbe, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Handré Pollard and Willie le Roux.
Rested completely from the squad that played Italy are Tendai Mtawarira (prop), Bongi Mbonambi (hooker), Lukhanyo Am (centre) and Cheslin Kolbe and Makazole Mapimpi (wings) – who had featured in all four matches in Japan – as well as Lood de Jager, Duane Vermeulen and Faf de Klerk.
South Africa: 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Warrick Gelant, 13 Damian de Allende, 12 Frans Steyn, 11 Sbu Nkosi, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Francois Louw, 7 Kwagga Smith, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 RG Snyman, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Schalk Brits, 1 Thomas du Toit.
Replacements: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Frans Malherbe, 19 Eben Etzebeth, 20 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 21 Herschel Jantjies, 22 Handré Pollard, 23 Willie le Roux.
Date: Tuesday, October 8
Venue: Kobe Misaki Stadium, Kobe City
Kick-off: 19.15 (12.15 South Africa time, 06.15 Eastern Canadian time, 10.15 GMT)
Referee: Luke Pearce (England)
Assistant referees: Angus Gardner (Australia), Andrew Brace (Ireland)
TMO: Rowan Kitt (England)
💥 BREAKING: Boks name team to face Canada
✅ Short turn-around planned for
🏈 Starts for Willemse, Reinach and Du Toit🔗 https://t.co/qNSeep01Ev#StrongerTogether #RWC2019 pic.twitter.com/aCNLzYNHZG
— Springboks (@Springboks) October 6, 2019
