Kolisi starts, Moodie back as Boks make seven changes for All Blacks

Wing Canan Moodie starting and scrumhalf Jaden Hendrikse on the bench will make their first appearances in the Springbok jersey since the 2023 Rugby World Cup in Saturday's Rugby Championship Test against the All Blacks at Cape Town Stadium.

Double World Cup winners Willie le Roux (fullback) and Lukhanyo Am (utility back) also return to the match-23.

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus recalled the quartet to the side announcing a team on Thursday morning that shows seven changes, two of which are positional, to the starting XV that defeated the All Blacks 31-27 at Ellis Park on Saturday.

Scrumhalf Grant Williams earns his first start of the season in partnership with flyhalf Handré Pollard, who is promoted from the bench along with lock Eben Etzebeth, while Le Roux and Moodie come straight into the XV.

Springbok captain Siya Kolisi, who took a hard blow to the cheek in last week’s clash, made it through all the training sessions this week, and has been cleared to play. He will start in a powerful loose trio with No 8 Jasper Wiese and Pieter-Steph du Toit, who reverts from lock to flanker.

Etzebeth will pair up with the hard-working Ruan Nortje in the engine room, while Du Toit’s inclusion in the loose trio and Le Roux as the last line of defence sees Ben-Jason Dixon and Aphelele Fassi sit out of this week’s encounter, along with scrumhalf Cobus Reinach.

Moodie fills the void left by Kurt-Lee Arendse, who has been ruled out of the match due to concussion, with his inclusion seeing Kolbe move from the right to left wing.

The Boks have reverted to a traditional five-three split on the bench, with Am joining Hendrikse and utility back Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu among the back replacements.

Erasmus warned he was expecting New Zealand to raise their game to greater heights than last week’s nail-biter.

“This match is going to massive,” he said.

“New Zealand are a world-class outfit and we know they’ll be desperate to bounce back after leading in the second half last week.

“They’ll also be fully aware that a victory could give them a huge boost in the Rugby Championship standings and they’ll be playing to retain the Freedom Cup, which they’ve held since 2010. It’s going to be another epic encounter.”

Moodie and Hendrikse return for the first time since running out in the Bok jersey against Tonga in the Rugby World Cup pool stages in France 11 months ago. The pair have recovered from surgery to a fractured finger (Moodie) and shoulder (Hendrikse), while Kolisi has overcome his facial injury.

Erasmus was delighted to have Kolisi in his starting team.

“Siya is a world-class player and captain, and he adds immense value to the team with the way he leads by example and galvanises the team when the pressure is on.

“Similarly to the call we made with Eben last week, our team policy is that if a player trains on a Monday and gets through training during the week pain-free, they can be selected for the weekend — and Siya did just that.

“Honesty from the players about whether they can play and deliver fully on what we expect from them is a key part of our team culture, so have full faith in Siya to give everything on the field.”

A total of 13 players in the team played in the Boks' Rugby World Cup final win against the All Blacks in Paris last year, which the Springboks won 12-11. They are Bongi Mbonambi, Frans Malherbe, Etzebeth, captain Siya Kolisi, Du Toit, Pollard, Kolbe, Damian de Allende, Jesse Kriel, Ox Nche, Kwagga Smith, Jasper Wiese and Le Roux.

The squad features 19 Rugby World Cup-winners, with only four players in the match-23 who did not participate in the international extravaganza: Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Nortje, Elrigh Louw and Gerhard Steenekamp.

The bench features the same front row that took on the All Blacks in Johannesburg — Malcolm Marx (hooker), Steenekamp and Koch (both props), while loose forwards Louw and Smith complete the forward replacements.

Etzebeth will close in on Victor Matfield’s record as the most capped Springbok (127 caps) as he plays his 126th Test, while Le Roux’s start will nudge him to only three Tests away from joining the select group of Springbok centurions.

Springbok team to face All Blacks in Cape Town:

15 — Willie le Roux (Bulls) — 96 caps, 75 points (15t)

14 — Canan Moodie (Bulls) — 10 caps, 25 points (5t)

13 — Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles) — 74 caps, 80 points (16t)

12 — Damian de Allende (Wild Knights) — 83 caps, 55 points (11t)

11 — Cheslin Kolbe (Suntory Sungoliath) — 36 caps, 96 points (15t, 3c, 5p)

10 — Handré Pollard (Leicester Tigers) — 74 caps, 734 points (7t, 99c, 162p, 5dg)

9 — Grant Williams (Sharks) — 14 caps, 15 points (3t)

8 — Jasper Wiese (Urayasu D-Rocks) — 28 caps, 5 points (1t)

7 — Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz) — 82 caps, 45 points (9t)

6 — Siya Kolisi (captain, Racing 92) — 87 caps, 55 points (11t)

5 — Ruan Nortje (Bulls) — 3 caps, 0 points

4 — Eben Etzebeth (Sharks) — 125 caps, 30 points (6t)

3 — Frans Malherbe (Stormers) — 74 caps, 5 points (1t)

2 — Bongi Mbonambi (Sharks) — 73 caps, 75 points (15t)

1 — Ox Nche (Sharks) — 34 caps, 0 points

Replacements:

16 — Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) — 70 caps, 95 points (19t)

17 — Gerhard Steenekamp (Bulls) — 5 caps, 0 points

18 — Vincent Koch (Sharks) — 55 caps, 0 points

19 — Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs) — 46 caps, 45 points (9t)

20 — Elrigh Louw (Bulls) — 7 caps, 0 points

21 — Jaden Hendrikse (Sharks) — 15 caps, 12 pts (2t, 1c)

22 — Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (Stormers) — 7 caps, 49 points (14c, 4p)

23 — Lukhanyo Am (Sharks) — 37 caps, 35 pts (7t)

SA Rugby