Bok side vs Oz announced

Springbok team to face Australia in Johannesburg:

15 Aphelele Fassi (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 12 caps, 35 points (7t)

14 Edwill van der Merwe (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 3 caps, 25 pts (5t)

13 Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles) – 80 caps, 95 points (19t)

12 Andre Esterhuizen (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 20 caps, 0 pts

11 Kurt-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls) – 26 caps, 100 points (20t)

10 Manie Libbok (Kintetsu Liners) – 20 caps, 108 pts (1t, 35c, 11p)

9 Grant Williams (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 19 caps, 25 pts (5t)

8 Siya Kolisi (captain, Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 93 caps, 60 points (12t)

7 Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz) – 88 caps, 60 pts (12t)

6 Marco van Staden (Vodacom Bulls) – 27 caps, 15 pts (3t)

5 Lood de Jager (Wild Knights) – 67 caps, 25 points (5t)

4 Eben Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 133 caps, 35 points (7t)

3 Wilco Louw (Vodacom Bulls) – 18 caps, 0 pts

2 Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) – 78 caps, 115 pts (23t)

1 Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 41 caps, 0 pts

Replacements:

16 Bongi Mbonambi (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 79 caps, 70 points (14t)

17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Vodacom Bulls) – 5 caps, 10 pts (2t)

18 Asenathi Ntlabakanye (Lions) – 1 cap, 0 pts

19 Franco Mostert (Honda Heat) – 79 caps, 20 points (4t)

20 Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs) – 53 caps, 45 points (9t)

21 Cobus Reinach (DHL Stormers) – 40 caps, 70 pts (14t)

22 Canan Moodie (Vodacom Bulls) – 14 caps, 35 pts (7t)

23 Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers) – 41 caps, 61 points (5t, 9c, 4p, 2 dg)

Sacha and RG out of favour which is madness

de Allende picked up a back niggle so not considered

Kolbe also had a niggle but is back training but they are giving him an extra week

Ja I'd go with RG too at this stage. Sacha has been very out of sorts but he'll have to play himself back in, there's no other way. That backrow doesn't look too hot either.

Yeah plenty of faith shown in Libbok especially considering there is no back up in Pollard on the bench so if Manie has a yips kicking at goal we could be in trouble

Kolisi at 8 is testament to how stupid the squad selection is without a specialist 8 - Roos should have walked it

Rassie is a big fan of average v Staaden as he is of Reinach and Mostert

It should have been RG instead of Mostert and vd Bergh instead of bloody Reinach

At least we see Nthlabakanye ahead of Koch on the bench

They've been planning this for some time...probably on Rassie's request that Kolisi has been playing 8 for the Sharks all season and same reason there is no specialist 8...with Marx and van Staaden there, there's no necessity for the 8 to fetch... I'm no fan of Eskom, but he played well this season and deserves to be there.

Will be nice seeing again what Libbok can get out of Esterhuizen.

The backline is hot, plenty of speed, forwards not too bad the weakness is in the loose trio.

They should win.

Plain fucking stupidity that you don’t select a specialist 8 in a squad of 38 especially when you consider you have the calibre of player like Roos

It’s madness

Kolisi at 6 with Roos at 8 is far, far better than Eskom at 6 and Kolisi at 8

Yet to know a coach who isn't blind sighted

Van Staden is there because outside of Marx we have no jackalers. Neither Kolisi nor Steph are any good at it.

"Plain fucking stupidity that you don’t select a specialist 8 in a squad of 38 especially when you consider you have the calibre of player like Roos"

Lol

And no RG, but Franco the gladiator is there.

...Rassie, the genius.

Bow down, mortals!

Eskom is ordinary- should not be in the squad

He might effect 2 turnovers all game

Ox is pretty good over the ball so we have him and Marx with Kwagga off the bench

Ja, pretty early for the the team to be announced. I thought Rassie gave up on experimentation but here we are yet again. What on earth is Kolisi doing at 8, he was awful for the Sharks this season at 8. They only reason why he is playing there for the Sharks is because of his high wages and how much they had to fork out to bring him back from France and now he is deadwood for them.

Kolisi will be the downfall of Rassie if he persist with him.

It is beyond me. On one hand I'm happy to see Andre get a crack, but he has been Rassies system for 7 years now and only has 20 caps to show for it.

I think Rassie is continuing to rotate players and said that players won't play more than 9 or 10 matches this year.

I still can't believe he is backing libbok. Willemse on the bench.

He might effect 2 turnovers all game

Umm...that's very good.

Not even Marx averages 2 per game.

Assume he and Marx turn the ball over 4 times in total. I bet you any coach would pick them based on that number alone.

Marco probably turns over less than 1 per game. He's not agile enough, to be in the right place enough of the time.

Honestly though, I'm warming to Marco again. He seems to do much better when he has good ball carriers with him. For me, our best back row play thus far in 2025 was the combo of Jasper, Marco and Vincent. They looked really difficult stop.

Anyway, Kwagga will replace Kolisi after 40 minutes and the idea is probably for him to pilfer the tired Ozzie ball.

Lets break down the combo's

Ox, Marx, Wilco - Best front row and nice to see the boys starting.

Lood and Etzebeth - The old firm back together. Lood impressed me earlier and looked even better. Still worried about Eben.

Eskom, Sya, PTSD - All out of form, Steph is coming back from injury, Sya is not an 8, Eskom blows hot and cold but his last game was good. Looks like he is a better opensider than kolisi, but why not kwagga?

Grant, Manie - Manie got all of his kicks last time out, Grant is the form 9 and can open up teams, will be interesting to see him and Manie, but it is if Manie doesn't get knocked back and lost his confidence.

Esterhuizen and Kriel - Not the worse choice, Kriel has been on form the last two seasons. AE is finally getting a start, so will see how well he plays. Might give Manie and Williams plenty of space like he did for Marcus Smit at Harlequins.

Fassi, Arendse and Van Der Merwe - Good back 3, and van Der Merwe has kept up his performance

Bench,

Bongi, Jan Hendrik and Big Kabe, not sure if would go for these guys. Feel sorry for Thomas but he was his own worst enemy, not sure what Bongi is doing there. Offers Nothing. Quota? Jan Hendrik needs a few more season but he is now marked as Loosehead prop? What happened to Boner?

Franco, seriously, the guy is pushing 35, on the bench, why? Kwagga, we know what we get from him

Reinach, looks like he is there as insurance, Moodie, probably rotation but can cover 4 spots, Willemse is also fine.

Interesting to see no bomb squad, I think the boks want to play more with their backline and AE as an additional forward cover

I think Kolisi at 8 is a good idea. He has always been at his best when he gets some space to run.

Also, has the passing and running skills to link with the backs.

Boks need a specialist fetcher at 6. Van Staden is not my ideal choice, but he is the best we have at the moment as a 6. SA does not produce many of this type of player.

Never thought I'll ever see it but it gives me a great deal of pleasure to say there's more speed in the Boks than in OZ.

Seems like a reversal of roles with Oz now more physical.

Big personalities that challenge the aura aren’t in favor…..Roos, Sacha, Faf, Snyman and even Pollard whose saving of the WC was awkward. But if you’re an injured lammetjie and the genius can claim to have rehabilitated you, like Libbok, you’re golden.

Hard to say where the two teams are….are the Aussies battle hardened or worn out after the Lions series. Are the Boks energized by the unpredictability of it all, or just confused. Do we actually have a game plan to run the ball.

But if we are going to play Kolisi I agree with Shark that he is better as a ball carrying number 8. And no player is more deserving than Edwill whose play in the air has been spectacular.

Oh and the clash between Etzebeth’s Godzilla vs Skelton’s Megalon, even if they don’t exactly line up, will likely happen and is a mouth watering prospect

Only an idiot would pick a player on the strength of him effecting 2 turnovers a game

It’s interesting that Marx is now ahead of Bongi - what’s changed

Marx has always been better but always employed off the bench

I’m struggling to understand not selecting the security of Pollard off the bench

Also the far more impactful RG not selected, while we still see Mostert employed

RG, Nortje and Cobus Wiese are all better than powder puff

Reinach over Faf is also a mystery to me - Faf is slightly younger and far far better. But given Faf is not in the squad, it should have been the live wire vd Bergh on the bench

Better put a heart monitor on Simpleton…..Esterhozen is playing.

Oz are looking good it’s going to be a tough test

They have enough grunt in the pack having recalled Skelton and Tupoa. Their captain at 8 is as hard as nails

Their centres are good as is 15 and the wings

White if selected at 9 is good

Really a weird team with negatives all ve the show. Lets start with the backline - I frankly cannot see any backline attack fucntioning at all with Libbok and Esterhuizen being at 10 and 12 and their is a huge defensive gab between the two said players. Both have defense problems and together they will destroy defense spectacularly. whu have the full capacity to destroy backline attacks. For the Esterhuizen supporter a warning - he will fail again and for his supporters they can only hope he will not be moved to play at 6 after another failure in the backline.

Willemse will always be on the bench because he can replace potentially for players in the backline,

I have no problem with the Tight 5 selections - bar what is the purpose of selecting powder-puff Mostert ahead of Snyman in the playing squad.

I am afraid I do not like some players in the team to play - unlike other site members I hope the team wins on Saturday - but if the Aussies played well they have a reasonable chance of beaing the Sprngboks on Satirday especially exploiting the two backline players I mentioned specifically, It may be a repeat of the strategy by Erasmus of 2018 when he sent the players to play in New Zealand 14 days early, One will have to wait and see who is going to New Zeland early this time around who depart for New Zealand this week or early next week

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Brilliant….so the real team is departing this week for a game in NZ 3 weeks from now. I guess that means the likes of Ox, Etzebeth and Dud Toit aren’t part of the real team. You’ve cracked it Simpleton.

Mike you are speaking utter shit re Libbok and Esterhuizen as you are Willemse

Willemse is in the prime of his career and recently back from injury - once he is back properly he will definitely start for the Boks - the only question is where?

Rassie is a huge Willemse fan and rightly so - he won’t waste his talent on the bench

It is nice that AE is starting and I hope he has a cracker game.

Depending on the gameplan, Libbok and AE will fit we’ll together as AE offloads more than DDA and nothing wrong with his defence, he is a great defender!

Uncle, Lying to defame a player and deliberately trying to jinx him before he even play, is really unnecessary honestly.

Think a bit, if wishing for him to have a bad game, it will be bad for the Bok team and our overall performance.

So is Kolbe injured or is it rotational that Edwill is starting? I like Edwill and he is in great form.

I agree Kolisi is a better 8 than a 6 flanker as it suits his running attributes. Let’s hope he gets it right of the back of the scrum.

Eskom is atleast in better form as of late and hopefully he can help us control the breakdowns and Rucks, to effect more turnovers and protect our ball possession.

Our frontrow /Pack will scrum the snot out of the Ozzies and a eye should be kept on them for illegal scrum Tatics.

I would have started Willemse and have Pollard on the bench. If Libbok has a of day with the boot, we will loose points in kicking to poles.

Morne vd Berg definitely in front of Reinach. Boan Venter is definitely a stronger prop than Jan Hendrik wessels. But I would have kept Jan Hendrik Wessels instead of Bongi at Hooker.

Mostert is a really good player and reliable, but he has had very little game time as of late. So maybe a Cobus Wiese or RG instead.

Agree with most of those calls M …if Wessels gets on early enough to scrum against Tupou (who might fortunately be injured) he’d be snapped like a twig. The Barbarians tighthead had him for breakfast.

Agree with most of those calls M …if Wessels gets on early enough to scrum against Tupou (who might fortunately be injured) he’d be snapped like a twig. The Barbarians tighthead had him for breakfast.

Mpower

I am not hoping of Esterhuizen having a bad game - I am just thinkng of hm playing his ordianry game on test level - which has been below par since 2018. The defensive gap between Libbok and him represents a real problem ibn defense - especially since Libbok is a poor tackler and Esterhuizen not a sound one at all since he often is not in the defense line positon where he should be - especially after breakline ball recovery by opposing teams,

I am still hoping for a Springbok victory - but to my mind the margin would be reduced as a result of some team selections by Erasmus, .

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Ok that is good then Uncle Mike. I really think that you might be over exaggerating about his defence.

Andre tackles hard and good, just ask the Porra player that was tackled in his chops by Andre.

If you have some Video evidence of his bad defence, that we don’t know of, please share with us.

Lets wait and see. We all know Libbok is bad defensively, but his bad defence has never made us loose a game.

OK

Just watch the Welsh test in the match where Esterhuizen was the center - where was he when the Welsh scored a try? Esterhuizen was standing aroud near the scrummie and not in any defensie position at all. In the Sharks matches this year he often was outside the defense line hoping somebody would pass a ball to him for a spectacular carry - but when there was a ball loss he was not in any posotion where to defend,

OK heres one about a really effective tackle for yoiu, In 2015 in the RC De Allende tackled Nonu so hard he was replaced by hs team. The next test between the two teams was the WRC semi, Bibu never attacked the gain line anywhere near De Allende, In te famous try of Barrett that Mozart lied about - Nonu was running accross the field to try and avoid being clashing with De Allende and De A lende ahd to rub after huim to catc him which eventiually he did and he got tackled five meters out, In the process Pieteren was standing admiring something - but never in a position to tackle Barrett when Nonu off-loaded the ball to him. ,

Which Welsh game was that and I will go check.

OK heres one about a really effective tackle for yoiu, In 2015 in the RC De Allende tackled Nonu so hard he was replaced by hs team.

Really? That's funny because he was still actively playing when Pollard put Kriel into the gap between him and Smith in the 45th minute. He was replaced directly after that try. Here's from a match report:

"a midfield defence that was so porous that Ma’a Nonu was pulled five minutes into the second period."

Nothing to do with a tackle, but with a lack of defensive cohesion in the All Black midfield.

Nonu was running accross the field to try and avoid being clashing with De Allende

Wow, so a ball carrier was trying to avoid a tackle in order to make as many yards as possible and set up a try? Revolutionary! I always thought the point in rugby was to just run into the nearest tackler as soon as possible so you don't get any nearer to the tryline than absolutely necessary.

Can't wait for the next installment in the LiarMike comedy show.

Oh boy, you lot are really putting Uncle Clever in his place...all pundits are applauding these insights.

Which Welsh game was that and I will go check.

Minute 4:48. Esterhuizen is right where he is supposed to be, marking #21 while also in attention if Wales made a push to the line with the forwards. His #13 is literally right next to him as he makes the tackle, so I'm not sure where else Mike wants him. Outside the 13? On the touchline?

Wales had far too much width and numbers on the Boks here with a 5 on 3 on the outside.

There will be new rugby to talk about this weekend, Draad. In the meantime we fiddle with bits.

Spot on Pakie. Our defensive line was caught napping with to little players covering the side with the Welsh overlap.

Andre was also calling players telling them to come that side to negate the Welsh overlap, while covering his man and making the tackle.

Was that Marcelle Coetzee playing number 6?

Draad seriously…..back again to defend the Uncle. Simpleton can’t get through a post without calling somebody stupid and then belligerently presents a bat crazy idea like Nonu was running away from Dud. Is it surprising to you that he gets exposed at that point.

i have to ask again given the incredibly one sided view you have of these little tiffs, are you a Saaiman?

Utter horseshit re Wessels - he spent all season dominating at 1 for the Bulls and the fact that posters don’t know a prop can pre engage says all you need to know about their rugby knowledge

Do you honestly think Rassie would select a loosehead who can’t scrum - are you people this dumb?

Kolisi is not an 8 never has been, he is a 6 and our best 6 by a country mile

Willemse should have started, at 15 I take it? Hopefully no one is stupid enough to suggest he should have started at 10

Kolbe was injured but is back training - Rassie said they were giving him an extra week