{"id":93208,"date":"2025-11-20T17:26:33","date_gmt":"2025-11-20T17:26:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/springboks-return-to-full-strength-for-colossal-challenge"},"modified":"2025-11-20T17:51:40","modified_gmt":"2025-11-20T17:51:40","slug":"springboks-return-to-full-strength-for-colossal-challenge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/springboks-return-to-full-strength-for-colossal-challenge","title":{"rendered":"Springboks Return to Full Strength for Colossal Challenge"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. <\/strong><\/span>South African head coach Rassie Erasmus said he is expecting Saturday’s Autumn Series Test with Ireland to be a “colossal challenge” after he named a side he hopes will deliver a first win in Dublin since 2012.<\/p>\n

The 53-year-old recalled most of the players who sat out last Saturday’s 32-14 victory over Italy – achieved, like the win over France the previous weekend, with the Springboks reduced to 14 men for a large part of the match.<\/p>\n

In one change from the squad that beat France, Ruan Nortje is promoted from the replacements bench to the starting lineup in place of suspended lock Lood de Jager – whose appeal against his red card against Les Bleus was rejected on Thursday. Kwagga Smith returns to the bench.<\/p>\n

In the backline, Canan Moodie switches from centre against Italy to wing to fill the void left by Kurt-Lee Arendse, who returned to South Africa after suffering a concussion last week.<\/p>\n

“Ireland have been among the top-ranked teams in the last few years, and they are a force to be reckoned with at home,” said Erasmus in a statement on hursday announcing the team.<\/p>\n

“They have a good balance of experienced and exciting young players in their squad, and they pose threats up front and with their talented backs, so it’s going to require a massive effort to beat them.<\/p>\n

“This group of players have never won a match in Ireland before, so we know how tough it’s going to be to win here, and that will certainly motivate us.<\/p>\n

“It will take a colossal effort, but we are excited about the challenge, and we know that we have to be razor sharp in all departments to get the desired result.”<\/p>\n

Saturday’s game will be a landmark or the fearsome Leinster lock RG Snyman, who will win his 50th cap if he comes on in his ‘home city’.<\/p>\n

“He’s a great player and team man, and had it not been for injuries along the way, he would have probably earned 50 caps a while ago,” said Erasmus.<\/p>\n

“He deserves this achievement, and it speaks volumes about the quality of the player he is.”<\/p>\n

Team (15-1)<\/b><\/p>\n

Damian Willemse; Canan Moodie, Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende, Cheslin Kolbe; Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Cobus Reinach; Jasper Wiese, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi (capt); Ruan Nortje, Eben Etzebeth; Thomas du Toit, Malcolm Marx, Boan Venter<\/p>\n

Replacements:<\/b> Johan Grobbelaar, Gerhard Steenekamp, Wilco Louw, RG Snyman, Kwagga Smith, Andre Esterhuizen, Grant Williams, Manie Libbok<\/p>\n

Coach:<\/b> Rassie Erasmus (RSA)<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About South-Africa<\/span> Follow Africa-Press<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – South-Africa. South African head coach Rassie Erasmus said he is expecting Saturday’s Autumn Series Test with Ireland to be a “colossal challenge” after he named a side he hopes will deliver a first win in Dublin since 2012. The 53-year-old recalled most of the players who sat out last Saturday’s 32-14 victory over […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":93207,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,17],"tags":[275],"class_list":["post-93208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-sport","tag-south-africa-2"],"yoast_head":"\nSpringboks Return to Full Strength for Colossal Challenge - South Africa<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"South African head coach Rassie Erasmus said he is expecting Saturday's Autumn Series Test with Ireland to be a "colossa ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/springboks-return-to-full-strength-for-colossal-challenge\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Springboks Return to Full Strength for Colossal Challenge\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"South African head coach Rassie Erasmus said he is expecting Saturday's Autumn Series Test with Ireland to be a "colossa ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/springboks-return-to-full-strength-for-colossal-challenge\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"South Africa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-11-20T17:26:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-11-20T17:51:40+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2025\/11\/sm_1763648460.443253.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/springboks-return-to-full-strength-for-colossal-challenge#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/springboks-return-to-full-strength-for-colossal-challenge\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"Springboks Return to Full Strength for Colossal Challenge\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-11-20T17:26:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-11-20T17:51:40+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/springboks-return-to-full-strength-for-colossal-challenge\"},\"wordCount\":439,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/springboks-return-to-full-strength-for-colossal-challenge#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/sites\/31\/2025\/11\/sm_1763648460.443253.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"South-Africa\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/springboks-return-to-full-strength-for-colossal-challenge#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/springboks-return-to-full-strength-for-colossal-challenge\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/south-africa\/all-news\/springboks-return-to-full-strength-for-colossal-challenge\",\"name\":\"Springboks Return to Full Strength for Colossal Challenge - 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