Duane Vermeulen will captain a Springbok side featuring a mix of experienced campaigners and exciting fringe players in the 2023 Rugby Championship opener against the Wallabies in Pretoria on Saturday.
Vermeulen leads a team featuring a core of 2019 Rugby World Cup winners and talented newcomers who have excelled at vital moments in the past few seasons, and it includes former Ireland international lock Jean Kleyn, set to make his Springbok Test debut.
198 – @Sprinkboks duo Jean Kleyn (198) and Marvin Orie (197) made more tackles than any other second rows in the 2022/23 @URCOfficial – Kleyn also made the most carries of any lock (145) and had the third best tackle success % of any second row with 120+ attempts (94%). Towering. https://t.co/AJi9hBeZFP
— OptaJonny (@OptaJonny) July 4, 2023
Flyhalf Manie Libbok and loose forward Marco van Staden will start for the first time having previously made three and 10 Test appearances respectively as replacements.
South Africa’s first two Tests of the season are separated by seven days, 12 000km and 10 time zones. A group of 14 players are consequently scheduled to leave for Auckland on Tuesday to acclimatise to conditions in that country for the showdown against the All Blacks at Mount Smart Stadium on 15 July.
Vermeulen, who captained the Springboks against Argentina and the All Blacks in 2019, takes over the captaincy from the injured Siya Kolisi and completes a powerful loose trio with Pieter-Steph du Toit and Van Staden, while the front row features props Frans Malherbe and Ox Nche and hooker Bongi Mbonambi. Kleyn partners Marvin Orie at lock.
In the backline, exciting Bulls wingers Canan Moodie and Kurt-Lee Arendse will play in front of their home fans with experienced fullback Willie le Roux serving as the last line of defence while Lukhanyo Am returns to Bok duty for the first time since August to renew a former Sharks provincial partnership with Andre Esterhuizen.
Libbok is partnered at halfback by scrumhalf Cobus Reinach – who makes his first Test start since the final match of the 2021 season.
The Boks have gone with a six-two split in favour of the forwards on the bench – Grant Williams (scrumhalf and wing) and Damian Willemse (flyhalf, centre and fullback) provide backline cover.
Flyhalf Elton Jantjies, prop Trevor Nyakane and scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies will remain with the team to assist in their preparations for Saturday’s season-opener and to provide cover if necessary, meaning the coaches will have a group of 26 players to work with this week.
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Springboks – 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Canan Moodie, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Duane Vermeulen (c), 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche.
Subs: 16 Joseph Dweba, 17 Thomas du Toit, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Evan Roos, 21 Deon Fourie, 22 Grant Williams, 23 Damian Willemse.
Photo: Shaun Roy/BackpagePix