Du Toit to captain Boks in first Test against All Blacks, as De Allende hits 100
The team also includes Feinberg-Mngomezulu at flyhalf, Williams at scrumhalf and Nche at prop.
Damien de Allende will earn his 100th Test cap when South Africa's Springboks face the All Blacks in the opening game of a four-match Rugby's Greatest Rivalry series in Johannesburg on Saturday. The match will take place at Ellis Park, kicking off at 5:10 PM. Flank Pieter-Steph du Toit has been named the team's captain in the absence of injured Siya Kolisi.
Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu has been named the team's flyhalf, while Manie Libbok will be on the bench. Handre Pollard will not play in the matchday-23 lineup. However, Ox Nche, who suffered an injury during the Springboks' first match of the season, has recovered and will replace him in the starting lineup. Young Paul de Villiers will take over Siya Kolisi's position on the scrum team.
Cobus Wiese, whose brother Jasper will be at No. 8 on the bench, will also play. Other players included in the matchday squad are Cobus Wiese's brother Jasper, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Zach Porthen, and Andre Esterhuizen. Erasmus stated that the Springboks have selected a well-balanced team with players who remained in South Africa to train for the series and those who have returned from injuries after the Nations Championship.
The team has been together for over a week, and they are aligned in their approach to the game. Kolisi's absence from the lineup was explained by Erasmus, who said that although Kolisi had trained with them, they decided to select Paul de Villiers in what will be his first Test match against New Zealand, taking a precautionary approach to Kolisi's return.
Written by urgent.news from The Citizen's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
