Springboks coach Jacques Nienaber makes one injury-enforced change to his starting XV as loosehead Ox Nche comes in, Trevor Nyakane shifts to tighthead with Frans Malherbe out; Nienaber forced into changed on bench too as Jasper Wiese replaces Marco van Staden; Cheslin Kolbe still out
Tuesday 28 September 2021 13:01, UK
Prop Ox Nche will come into the South Africa starting line-up after Jacques Nienaber made one injury-enforced change to the side for the Rugby Championship rematch against New Zealand.
Nche will start at loosehead with Trevor Nyakane switching to tighthead after Frans Malherbe was ruled out with a neck injury.
There is also a change on the replacement's bench where loose forward Jasper Wiese takes over from Marco van Staden for the last game in this year's competition.
Van Staden suffered a shoulder injury in the latter stages of last week's 19-17 defeat by the All Blacks in Townsville.
It means there is no comeback for star winger Cheslin Kolbe, who missed the team's first three matches in Australia in the southern hemisphere tournament, where they lost twice to the Wallabies and then to the All Blacks last weekend.
Kolbe, who had a leg injury, trained with the team on Monday and Tuesday, but he was unable to complete the last training session, ending hopes of making a return.
"We made a big step-up in terms of our performance last week and having reviewed the match, there is no doubt we delivered a performance worthy of a victory," said Nienaber as he named the team.
"With that in mind we opted for continuity in our team. We are bitterly disappointed about the results in the last few weeks and everyone in our team realises the importance of finishing the Rugby Championship on a winning note.
"We know it is going to take a colossal 80-minute effort, but the drive to succeed and motivation to win this weekend is as big as it gets.
"Last week we stuck to our DNA and style of play, and with a little more luck we could have come away with the result, so we need to ensure that we are better at it this week."
South Africa: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Sbu Nkosi, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Handr Pollard, 9 Faf de Klerk; 1 Ox Nche, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 3 Trevor Nyakane, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 5 Lood de Jager, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 7 Kwagga Smith, 8 Duane Vermeulen.
Replacements: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Franco Mostert, 20 Jasper Wiese, 21 Herschel Jantjies, 22 Elton Jantjies, 23 Frans Steyn.
