Africa-Press – South-Africa. Willie le Roux will become the eighth Springbok centurion in Saturday’s second Test against Italy at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Gqeberha in a new-look team that will be led by Salmaan Moerat and includes three uncapped players on the bench.
The players in Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus’ team in line to make their Test debuts are prop Asenathi Ntlabakanye, who featured in their 54-7 victory against the Barbarians two weekends ago; utility forward Cobus Wiese, the brother of No 8 Jasper; and utility back Ethan Hooker. The three have all been in fantastic form for their respective franchises this year.
With Siya Kolisi being managed as he recovers from a niggle, Moerat will lead the team, which feature seven players from the side that defeated Italy 42-24 in Pretoria on Saturday. Moerat last captained the Boks in their 2024 Rugby Championship match against the Pumas in Argentina.
The five starting players who will face the Azzurri for the second week in a row are Le Roux, Wilco Louw, Malcolm Marx, Marco van Staden, Jasper Wiese. Ox Nché and Jan-Hendrik Wessels will make an impact off the replacements bench.
Erasmus named an exciting new backline with Edwill van der Merwe and Eastern Cape local Makazole Mapimpi linking up with Le Roux in the back three. André Esterhuizen will partner Canan Moodie in the midfield and Manie Libbok joins forces with Grant Williams at halfback.
Up front, Jasper Wiese and Van Staden form a loose trio combination with Pieter-Steph du Toit, while Ruan Nortje and Moerat will command the engine room and Thomas du Toit will pack down with Louw and Marx in the front row.
Erasmus named five forwards and three backs on the bench, with Wessels joining fellow front-rowers Nché and Ntlabakanye, along with the versatile Cobus Wiese and Evan Roos. Cobus Reinach, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Hooker will provide backline cover.
Du Toit, Nortje, Williams, Mapimpi and Roos make returns from injuries that ruled them out of action at some stage since last season.
Commenting on Le Roux earning his 100th Test cap, Erasmus said: “Willie has been a stalwart for us in the last few years after making his debut against Italy in Durban in 2013 and he’s a fantastic playmaker, so we are thrilled to see him achieve this incredible feat.
“Only seven players in Springbok history have played 100 Tests before him, and to reach this milestone is testament to the player and team man Willie is.
“Having come a long way with him during his career, I have no doubt he’ll put the team before his own achievements this weekend and as a team we would certainly like to make it a special and memorable occasion for him.”
Erasmus said “from the outset that we would rotate the team as we have a large and very talented squad, and all but three of the players have played Test rugby before”.
“What makes this squad particularly exciting is that many of them have done the job for us before on the biggest stage, while Edwill has been knocking hard on the door since making his debut last season. Other players such as Asenathi, Cobus and Ethan have made a fantastic impression on us both at their franchises and at training and they certainly deserve this opportunity.”
The Wiese brothers will become the 37th set of brothers to play for the Springboks. The last pair were Jaden and Jordan Hendrikse.
The match kicks off at 5.10pm.
Springbok XV:
15 Willie le Roux (Bulls) — 99 caps, 75 pts (15t)
14 Edwill van der Merwe (Sharks) — 1 cap, 5 pts (1t)
13 Canan Moodie (Bulls) — 12 caps, 25 pts (5t)
12 André Esterhuizen (Sharks) — 19 caps, 0 pts
11 Makazole Mapimpi (Sharks) — 46 caps, 160 points (32t)
10 Manie Libbok (Stormers) — 19 caps, 98 pts (1t, 30c, 11p)
9 Grant Williams (Sharks) — 17 caps, 20 pts (4t)
8 Jasper Wiese (Urayasu D-Rocks) — 35 caps, 10 pts (2t)
7 Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz) — 86 caps, 60 pts (8t)
6 Marco van Staden (Bulls) — 26 caps, 20 pts (4t)
5 Ruan Nortje (Bulls) — 6 caps, 0 pts
4 Salmaan Moerat (captain, Stormers) — 10 caps, 0 pts
3 Wilco Louw (Bulls) — 17 caps, 0 pts
2 Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) — 77 caps, 110 pts (22t)
1 Thomas du Toit (Bath) — 23 caps, 5 pts (1t)
Replacements:
16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Bulls) — 4 caps, 5 pts (1t)
17 Ox Nche (Sharks) — 40 caps, 0 pts
18 Asenathi Ntlabakanye (Lions) — uncapped
19 Cobus Wiese (Bulls) — uncapped
20 Evan Roos (Stormers) — 7 caps, 0 pts
21 Cobus Reinach (Stormers) — 39 caps, 70 pts (14t)
22 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (Stormers) — 8 caps, 52 points (14c, 8p)
23 Ethan Hooker (Sharks) — uncapped
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