Rassie Names Springbok Team to face All Blacks

Rassie Erasmus has named his Springbok team for the opening Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry Test against the All Blacks at 10bet Ellis Park on Saturday.

Damian de Allende will become only the 10th player in Springbok history to reach 100 Test appearances.

Pieter-Steph du Toit will captain a side combining players retained from the 17-10 victory over Argentina with several members of the squad who remained in South Africa.

De Allende Reaches 100-Test Milestone

De Allende made his international debut against Argentina in 2014.

The centre will reach his century alongside Jesse Kriel, continuing their established midfield partnership.

Du Toit will play his 99th Test and move one appearance away from joining the Springbok centurions.

Two Players Retain Starting Places

Eben Etzebeth and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu are the only players retaining their positions in the starting XV from the Test against Argentina.

Seven more players involved in Buenos Aires have been named among the replacements.

They are Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Marco van Staden, Cobus Wiese, Gerhard Steenekamp, Zachary Porthen, Andre Esterhuizen and Cobus Reinach.

Feinberg-Mngomezulu Partners Williams

Feinberg-Mngomezulu starts at flyhalf alongside scrumhalf Grant Williams.

Cheslin Kolbe and Kurt-Lee Arendse start on the wings, with Damian Willemse at fullback.

Jesse Kriel and De Allende complete the backline at outside and inside centre.

Ox Nche Returns From Injury

Ox Nche returns from injury to start in the front row alongside Malcolm Marx and Wilco Louw.

Etzebeth partners Ruan Nortje in the second row.

Paul de Villiers, Du Toit and Jasper Wiese form the loose trio.

Erasmus has retained the replacement front row of Wessels, Steenekamp and Porthen.

Cobus Wiese, Van Staden and Esterhuizen provide further forward cover, while Reinach and Manie Libbok are the two specialist backs on the bench.

Springbok Starting XV

15. Damian Willemse, DHL Stormers: 52 caps, 76 points
16. Cheslin Kolbe, DHL Stormers: 50 caps, 131 points
17. Jesse Kriel, Canon Eagles: 90 caps, 115 points
18. Damian de Allende, Wild Knights: 99 caps, 55 points
19. Kurt-Lee Arendse, Mitsubishi Dynaboars: 32 caps, 125 points
20. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, DHL Stormers: 20 caps, 177 points
21. Grant Williams, Kobe Steelers: 30 caps, 40 points
22. Jasper Wiese, Urayasu D-Rocks: 46 caps, 20 points
23. Pieter-Steph du Toit, captain, Toyota Verblitz: 98 caps, 70 points
24. Paul de Villiers, DHL Stormers: 3 caps, 5 points
25. Ruan Nortje, Kubota Spears: 20 caps, 5 points
26. Eben Etzebeth, Hollywoodbets Sharks: 142 caps, 45 points
27. Wilco Louw, DHL Stormers: 31 caps, 10 points
28. Malcolm Marx, Kubota Spears: 89 caps, 135 points
29. Ox Nche, Hollywoodbets Sharks: 48 caps, 0 points

Springbok Replacements

16. Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Vodacom Bulls: 13 caps, 10 points
17. Gerhard Steenekamp, Vodacom Bulls: 19 caps, 10 points
18. Zachary Porthen, DHL Stormers: 6 caps, 5 points
19. Cobus Wiese, Vodacom Bulls: 5 caps, 0 points
20. Andre Esterhuizen, Hollywoodbets Sharks: 31 caps, 25 points
21. Marco van Staden, Vodacom Bulls: 36 caps, 20 points
22. Cobus Reinach, DHL Stormers: 53 caps, 100 points
23. Manie Libbok, Kintetsu Liners: 30 caps, 147 points

Springbok Milestones

Etzebeth will extend his record as the most-capped Springbok to 143 appearances when he takes the field.

Nche will play his 49th Test, leaving him one appearance short of 50.

Jasper Wiese needs three more appearances to reach 50 Test caps.

Libbok needs three points to reach 150 international points.

Experience in the Matchday Squad

The Springbok starting XV has a combined 850 Test caps.

The backline accounts for 373 caps, while the starting forwards have 477.

The replacements add another 193 caps.

The backs average 53 caps per player, the forwards average 60 and the replacements average 24.

Recent Springbok Record Against the All Blacks

The 2026 Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series marks the first traditional All Blacks tour to South Africa since 1996.

The teams last met in Johannesburg during the 2024 Castle Lager Rugby Championship. South Africa won 31-27.

The Springboks have won five of the past six matches between the teams since August 2023. That run includes the 2023 Rugby World Cup final in France.

The Springboks and All Blacks have played 110 Tests:

• Springbok wins: 43
• All Blacks wins: 63
• Draws: 4
• Springbok points scored: 1,850
• Points conceded: 2,269
• Springbok tries scored: 181
• Tries conceded: 248
• Springbok win percentage: 39%

Limited Tickets Return to Sale

A limited number of tickets for the first Test have returned to the market after seats allocated to the commercial programme became available.

Tickets are available at: https://springboks.tmtickets.co.za

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