Jacques Nienaber has raised a few eyebrows after retaining the same matchday 23 that did the business against France ahead of this weekend’s semi-final.
With a combined 895 caps between them, this starting XV is the most experienced in Springbok history. 15 of the matchday squad also played against England in the 2019 World Cup final, a match they famously won 32-12.
While there were no surprises in the pack, Cobus Reinach’s selection at scrumhalf might have raised a few eyebrows. But the Montpellier man put in a cracking shift against the French. The experience of Faf de Klerk and Handre Pollard – which last week proved invaluable – will be vital if things are tight going into the final quarter of the semi-final.
The #Springboks have named an unchanged team to face England in their #RWC2023 semi-final on Saturday - more here: https://t.co/27VtYN1x6O 🏉#StrongerTogether pic.twitter.com/5GtR0RboNi
— Springboks (@Springboks) October 19, 2023
There were also a few who thought Canan Moodie would crack the nod ahead of Jesse Kriel. The latter was colossal against the French and was spotted training with his head heavily bandaged. Moodie was on media duty this week, which is usually an indicator that a player will feature on matchday. Not so this time around.
“We’ve been building a quality Rugby World Cup squad for the last few years so that we could be in this position going into the knockout matches,” Nienaber said at the announcement.
“We have a squad of 33 players, all of whom are very closely matched in terms of their skill and quality of play which made it tempting to make changes this week and it was tough to select this group both last week and this week. But we feel it’s now time to go with the players in the squad who we believe are in their best form.”
The semi-final will be played at the Stade de France in Paris on Saturday. Kick-off is at 21:00.
Springbok Squad to Face England:
15 – Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers) – 37 caps
14 – Kurt-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls) – 13 caps
13 – Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles) – 66 caps
12 – Damian de Allende (Wild Knights) – 76 caps
11 – Cheslin Kolbe (Suntory Sungoliath) – 29 caps
10 – Manie Libbok (DHL Stormers) – 13 caps
9 – Cobus Reinach (Montpellier) – 30 caps
8 – Duane Vermeulen (SA Rugby) – 74 caps
7 – Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz) – 74 caps
6 – Siya Kolisi (captain, Racing 92) – 81 caps
5 – Franco Mostert (Honda Heat) – 71 caps
4 – Eben Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 117 caps
3 – Frans Malherbe (DHL Stormers) – 67 caps
2 – Bongi Mbonambi (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 66 caps
1 – Steven Kitshoff (Ulster) – 81 caps
Replacements:
16 – Deon Fourie (DHL Stormers) – 11 caps
17 – Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 26 caps
18 – Vincent Koch (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 48 caps
19 – RG Snyman (Munster) – 32 caps
20 – Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs) – 38 caps
21 – Faf de Klerk (Canon Eagles) – 53 caps
22 – Handre Pollard (Leicester Tigers) – 68 caps
23 – Willie le Roux (Vodacom Bulls) – 91 caps
