No Eben Etzebeth in Springbok team to face France
· The South African
Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has made only two changes to his match-23 to face France in Paris on Friday, which sees Wilco Louw move into the starting team, and Cobus Reinach being drafted onto the bench.
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Louw will join forces with Ox Nche and Malcolm Marx in the front row in the only change to the starting team, while Thomas du Toit will link up with Jan-Hendrik Wessels and Gerhard Steenekamp among the replacements.
The other change among the impact players is the inclusion of Reinach, who played club rugby for Montpellier, replacing Grant Williams.
A total of 16 players in the match-23 featured in the Boks’ 32-17 victory over France in Paris last year, including the entire starting forward pack with the exception of Nche, as well as five of the backs in the run-on team – Feinberg-Mngomezulu, De Allende, Kriel, and Willemse. Ten players in the group were members of the team that defeated France 29-28 in the quarter-final of the Rugby World Cup in 2023.
Commenting on the decision not to name Eben Etzebeth, who arrived in France early on Monday morning in the squad, Erasmus said: “Eben just arrived in France, and although we know what he brings to the team, but we feel it would be better for him to get back into the swing of things this week after some time on the sidelines.
“Lood and Franco are also very experienced players and they have been training with us for almost two weeks now after arriving in Italy the week prior to last week’s Test match. They’ve both faced France in high pressure matches and delivered, so we know what we have in them and what they will bring to the team this week.”
The Test kicks off at 22:10 (SA time) and will be broadcast live on SuperSport.
Springbok team to face France in Paris:
15 Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers) – 56 caps, 81 pts (9t, 9c, 4p, 2dg)
14 Kurt-Lee Arendse (Mitsubishi Dynaboars) – 36 caps, 135 pts (27t)
13 Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles) – 95 caps, 125 pts (25t)
12 Damian de Allende (Wild Knights) – 104 caps, 65 pts (13t)
11 Ethan Hooker (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 15 caps, 15 pts (3t)
10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (DHL Stormers) – 26 caps, 221 pts (10t, 59c, 15p)
9 Morne van den Berg (10bet Lions) – 12 caps, 42 pts (8t, 1c)
8 Jasper Wiese (Urayasu D-Rocks) – 51 caps, 20 pts (4t)
7 Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz) – 103 caps, 75 pts (15t)
6 Siya Kolisi (captain, DHL Stormers) – 108 caps, 80 pts (16t)
5 Ruan Nortje (Kubota Spears) – 25 caps, 5 pts (1t)
4 Lood de Jager (Wild Knights) – 79 caps, 25 pts (5t)
3 Wilco Louw (DHL Stormers) – 37 caps, 15 pts (3t)
2 Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) – 95 caps, 145 pts (31t)
1 Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 54 caps, 5 pts (1t)
Replacements:
16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Vodacom Bulls) – 16 caps, 10 pts (2t)
17 Gerhard Steenekamp (Vodacom Bulls) – 24 caps, 10 pts (2t)
18 Thomas du Toit (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 38 caps, 10 pts (2t)
19 Franco Mostert (Honda Heat) – 86 caps, 20 pts (4t)
20 Cameron Hanekom (Vodacom Bulls) – 7 caps, 10 pts (2t)
21 Paul de Villiers (DHL Stormers) – 6 caps, 10 pts (2t)
22 Cobus Reinach (DHL Stormers) – 57 caps, 100 pts (20t)
23 Manie Libbok (Kintetsu Liners) – 35 caps, 149 pts (2t, 50c, 13p)
Stats and facts:
Springbok record against France:
Played 47; Won 29; Lost 12; Drawn 6. Points for: 1026, Points against: 737. Tries scored 115, Tries conceded 66. Highest score 52-10; Biggest win 42 points. Win % 61,7%.