TOKYO, 26 Sep – Veteran hooker Schalk Brits will captain the Springboks and assume a new role as they take on Namibia in their second Pool B clash of the Rugby World Cup on Saturday.
The 38-year-old – who’s the oldest member of the Bok squad – starts in the back row in a starting XV with 13 changes from the team that did duty against the All Blacks in Yokohama.
He dons the number eight jersey for the first time in a Test, slotting in alongside Kwagga Smith and Francois Louw at six and seven respectively.
Sharks duo Makazole Mapimpi and Lukhanyo Am are the only players who retain their spots from the 23-13 defeat, with the latter partnered by 2007 World Cup winner Francois Steyn in the midfield, while S’bu Nkosi comes in on the right wing in place of the impressive Cheslin Kolbe, who starts from the bench.
Bulls fullback Warrick Gelant also gets an opportunity to start, replacing Willie le Roux, with Hershel Jantjies named as scrumhalf next to his namesake, Elton, who completes the halfback pairing.
Among the forwards, tighthead prop Vincent Koch and lock Lood de Jager their first run in this World Cup, having sat out the match against New Zealand.
The Bulls lock is paired with provincial teammate, RG Snyman in the second row, while the front row is completed by Tendai Mtawarira and Bongi Mbonambi. All three players were second-half replacements in the last match.
With the Boks yet to break their duck in the ongoing Rugby World Cup, director of rugby Rassie Erasmus said the match against Namibia is being treated as a must-win encounter.
Namibia coach Phil Davies has made sweeping changes to his team for the Pool B match against South Africa at City of Toyota Stadium on Saturday.
There are 10 changes from the starting line-up who lost 47-22 to Italy last Sunday. Only captain Tjiuee Uanivi, Cliven Loubser, JC Greyling, pictured, Chad Plato, and Johan Tromp return. This is the second-highest number of changes they have made between RWC matches – the highest being 11 when preparing to face Argentina at Rugby World Cup 2015.
Peter John Walters – who became the first player since 2011 to make his test debut for Namibia in a World Cup match when he came off the bench against Italy – will start at inside-centre and Eugene Jantjies will extend the Welwitschias’ all-time appearances record to 68.
AJ De Klerk is in the starting XV of a World Cup match for the first time. He has previously featured in three, all coming off the bench.
🇿🇦 South Africa
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- South Africa could not overcome New Zealand in a tough contest against the All Blacks in their first game of the 2019 Rugby World Cup but they showed enough in that game to know they will be there or thereabouts at the end of the tournament.
- Trevor Nyakane has suffered World Cup heartache after he tore his right calf muscle which was a tournament-ending injury in the Springboks’ first game against New Zealand and he has been replaced by Thomas du Toit.
- Schalk Brits will captain a new-look side with the Springboks making 13 changes to the side that lined-up against the All Blacks, with Brits a surprise selection at number eight, whilst there will be a new back three combination consisting of Warrick Gelant, S’Busiso Nkosi and Makazole Mapimpi.
🇳🇦 Namibia
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- Namibia will be pleased to have scored 22 points against Italy in their RWC opener but their defence will be heavily tested again as they face one of the heavyweights of world rugby in South Africa.
- The Namibians are expected to rotate their squad throughout the tournament to give as much game time to as many players as possible but will be keen to give a good account of themselves here in what will be a huge test.
- They have only retained five of the starting XV that faced Italy with captain Tjiuee Uanivi, JC Greyling, Chad Plato, Cliven Loubser and Johan Trump the players who will start for a second successive game.
RR WORLD RANKINGS – During World Cup the RR Ranking Points are DOUBLED
RSA (on 85.75 points) at a Neutral venue -vs- NAM (on 61.01 points) in a RWC match
| Possible Outcome | Rating Point Exchange |
New RSA Rating |
New NAM Rating |
Will NAM overtake RSA? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| If RSA win by 1-15 points | 0.000 | 85.75 | 61.01 | No |
| If RSA win by more than 15 | 0.000 | 85.75 | 61.01 | No |
| If result is a draw | 2.000 | 83.75 | 63.01 | No |
| If NAM win by 1-15 points | 4.000 | 81.75 | 65.01 | No |
| If NAM win by more than 15 | 6.000 | 79.75 | 67.01 | No |
TEAMS
🇿🇦South Africa
1 Tendai Mtawarira, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 3 Vincent Koch, 4 RG Snyman, 5 Lood de Jager, 6 Francois Louw 7 Kwagga Smith, 8 Schalk Brits (capt.), 9 Herschel Jantjies, 10 Elton Jantjies, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 12 Frans Steyn, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 14 S’bu Nkosi, 15 Warrick Gelant
Replacements: 16 Steven Kitshoff, 17 Thomas du Toit, 18 Eben Etzebeth, 19 Siya Kolisi, 20 Franco Mostert, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Damian de Allende, 23 Cheslin Kolbe
🇳🇦 Namibia
1 Desiderius Sethie, 2 Louis van der Westhuizen, 3 AJ de Klerk, 4 Johan Retief, 5 Tjiuee Uanivi (capt.), 6 Thomasau Forbes, 7 Max Katjijeko, 8 Adriaan Booysen, 9 Eugene Jantjies, 10 Cliven Loubser, 11 Lesley Klim, 12 PJ Walters, 13 JC Greyling, 14 Chad Plato, 15 Johann Tromp
Replacements: 16 Obert Nortjé, 17 André Rademeyer, 18 Aranos Coetzee, 19 Prince Gaoseb, 20 Janco Venter, 21 Wian Conradie, 22 TC Kisting, 23 Johan Deysel
Date: Saturday, September 28
Kick-Off: 18:45 local
Venue: City of Toyota Stadium, Toyota
Referee: Mathieu Raynal (France)
Assistant Referees: Nic Berry (Australia), Andrew Brace (Ireland)
TMO: Graham Hughes (England)
