Reigning champions South Africa have recalled their star names as part of 13 personnel changes for Saturday’s crunch Rugby World Cup clash with Ireland in Paris.
Hooker Bongi Mbonambi and Damian Willemse, who switches from fly-half to full-back, are the only two starting players retained from Sunday’s 76-0 thrashing of Pool B minnows Romania.
Springboks head coach Jacques Nienaber has opted for a seven-one split of forwards and backs on a stacked bench for the Stade de France showdown.
His selection shows just one enforced alteration from the team which launched their title defence with an 18-3 win over Scotland on September 10, with Mbonambi continuing in place of Malcolm Marx, whose tournament was ended by a serious knee injury sustained in that game.
As expected, lock Eben Etzebeth has overcome a shoulder issue to take his place in a formidable XV captained by flanker Siya Kolisi.
Ulster prop Steven Kitshoff starts, while Jean Kleyn, who represented Ireland at the last World Cup, and fellow Munster lock RG Snyman are among the replacements.
“Ireland are a quality team with a strong pack of forwards and talented backs and they play with a lot of speed, so we know what we have to do to deliver a top-drawer performance for things to go our way,” Nienaber said in a statement.
“We’re fortunate to have a match-fit squad and have been building depth and versatility for a while and believe this is the best combination for this match.
“We know it’s going to be a grind of a match and we know we need to pitch up physically and mentally. We also need to start with intensity and stay focused until the final whistle.
“This is a massive game for both sides with an eye to progressing out of our pool, so we need to be extremely accurate in all areas of our game.”
— Springboks (@Springboks) September 19, 2023
South Africa team to face Ireland at Rugby World Cup
Forwards: 1 Steven Kitshoff (Ulster), 2 Bongi Mbonambi (Hollywoodbets Sharks), 3 Frans Malherbe (DHL Stormers), 4 Eben Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks), 5 Franco Mostert (Honda Heat), 6 Siya Kolisi (CAPTAIN, Racing 92), 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz), 8 Jasper Wiese (Leicester Tigers)
Backs: 9 Faf de Klerk (Canon Eagles), 10 Manie Libbok (DHL Stormers), 11 Cheslin Kolbe (Suntory Sungoliath), 12 Damian de Allende (Wild Knights), 13 Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles), 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls), 15 Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers)
Replacements: 16 Deon Fourie (DHL Stormers), 17 Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks), 18 Trevor Nyakane (Racing 92), 19 Jean Kleyn (Munster), 20 RG Snyman (Munster), 21 Marco van Staden (Vodacom Bulls), 22 Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs), 23 Cobus Reinach (Montpellier)