Bongi Mbonambi to lead Boks against Argentina

Bongi Mbonambi will become the Springboks’ 65th Test captain, the 25th since readmission, when they take on Argentina in Buenos Aires on Saturday.

With regular captain Siya Kolisi still recovering from a knee injury, and stand-in captains Duane Vermeulen and Eben Etzebeth training in Gauteng, the captaincy armband falls to hooker Mbonambi in his 60th Test.

The team that shows 13 changes to the starting line-up, does not feature scrumhalf Jaden Hendrikse but will see Cobus Reinach get another start with Herschel Jantjies on the bench.

Reinach was short of his best against Australia last month, while Jantjies has not played for the Boks since he came on as a substitute against the All Blacks at Ellis Park last year.

Should Hendrikse crack the nod in the RWC squad next week, he can owe his selection based on the body of work he produced for the Boks last year.

Predictably, the team shows sweeping changes from the one that ran out at Ellis Park, with only flyhalf Manie Libbok and lock Marvin Orie again in their starting roles.

Libbok will start his third Test this year, while Damian Willemse, who started in the other in Auckland, will do duty at fullback with Willie le Roux also ranking among the non travellers.

Canan Moodie and Makazole Mapampi are on the wings and in hot pursuit of a place in the RWC squad, while André Esterhuizen gets another stab at staking a claim at inside centre.

Jasper Wiese and Franco Mostert, who started against the All Blacks, form a backrow partnership with Deon Fourie who is on from the start for the first time in his seventh Test.

Expect Fourie to be on a fiery mission to convince the coaches he should go to France.

Orie will partner Jean Kleyn in the second row.

Prop Thomas du Toit gets his fifth start in 18 Tests, while other RWC hopeful Trevor Nyakane gets a first starting team inclusion since the Boks’ victory over the All Blacks in Mbombela last year.

From the bench there could be a debut for Bulls loose head prop Gerhard Steenekamp. The 26-year-old who was first invited to join the training squad in the build-up to the Test against Australia at Loftus last month, will have fellow front rowers Joseph Dweba and Vincent Koch for company on the bench.

Also among the substitutes features Jean-Luc du Preez, who could play his first Test since 2018 when a much revamped Bok team lost to England at Newlands. In the same year he joined Sale Sharks in Manchester and soon established himself a mainstay in their team. Du Preez has delivered impressive performances for Sale and helped propel them to this year’s Premiership final before they lost to Saracens.

He represented the Boks 13 times between 2016 and 2018. Du Preez’s versatility helped earned him the nod as he may see game time in the second row on Saturday.

Crucially, Kolisi and flyhalf Handré Pollard still count among the injured.

Coach Jacques Nienaber is expecting a massive battle.

“This is going to be a massive physical battle and there will be a lot of pressure on the players mentally and physically, which is exactly the type of situation we would like to see them in as we enter our World Cup warm-up games,” he said.

The Springbok team to play Argentina — Damian Willemse; Canan Moodie,
Lukhanyo Am, André Esterhuizen, Makazole Mapimpi; Manie Libbok, Cobus Reinach; Jasper Wiese, Franco Mostert, Deon Fourie; Marvin Orie, Jean Kleyn; Thomas du Toit, Bongi Mbonambi (captain), Trevor Nyakane.

Substitutes: Joseph Dweba, Gerhard Steenekamp, Vincent Koch, Jean-Luc du Preez, Evan Roos; Herschel Jantjies, Jesse Kriel, Kurt-Lee Arendse.

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