Bok starting XV vs Wales

I for one am so much happier with Gelant getting a go!

Warrick Gelant and Dan du Preez will get their first starts for the Springboks in the final Test of 2017, against Wales at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff on Saturday.

The inclusion of the exciting Gelant is one of five changes to the starting line-up announced by Springbok coach Allister Coetzee on Thursday for the last match of the Outgoing Tour.

Gelant was impressive when he came on as second half replacement against Italy last week for his Springbok debut and has replaced Courtnall Skosan on the left wing for his first start.

There are four changes among the forwards. Steven Kitshoff replaces the experienced Tendai Mtawarira, who is suffering from a groin injury and not available for selection.

Malcolm Marx has shrugged off his shoulder problem and takes over the hooker duties from Bongi Mbonambi, who moves to the bench.

Siya Kolisi is back in the side after missing the Italy Test because of paternal leave, and he comes in for Francois Louw on the side of the scrum, while Du Preez will also earns his first start in the No 8 jersey as replacement for Duane Vermeulen.

Louw, Vermeulen and Franco Mostert (lock) are back at their overseas clubs and not available because this match falls outside the World Rugby Test window.

Meanwhile, the uncapped duo of Lukhanyo Am (centre) and Louis Schreuder (scrumhalf) will join Mbonambi on the bench as two of a number of changes among the replacements, with Uzair Cassiem, Oupa Mohoje and Ruan Dreyer also included in the in the match day squad.

Eben Etzebeth will captain the Springbok team for the 11th time this season, playing in his 67th international match for South Africa.

Teams:

Wales

15 Leigh Halfpenny, 14 Hallam Amos, 13 Scott Williams, 12 Hadleigh Parkes, 11 Steff Evans, 10 Dan Biggar, 9 Aled Davies, 8 Taulupe Faletau, 7 Josh Navidi, 6 Aaron Shingler, 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 4 Cory Hill, 3 Scott Andrews, 2 Kristian Dacey, 1 Rob Evans

Substitutes: 16 Elliot Dee, 17 Wyn Jones, 18. Rhodri Jones, 19 Seb Davies, 20 Dan Lydiate, 21 Rhys Webb, 22 Rhys Patchell, 23 Owen Watkin

South Africa

15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Dillyn Leyds, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Francois Venter, 11 Warrick Gelant, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Ross Cronjé, 8 Dan du Preez, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Steven Kitshoff

Substitutes: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Ruan Dreyer, 19 Oupa Mohoje 20 Uzair Cassiem, 21 Louis Schreuder, 22 Elton Jantjies, 23 Lukhanyo Am

as seen on news24

Why is Dreyer on the bench, actually why is he even in the squad. A prop that cant scrum is like a car without a steering wheel. The starting front row is looking very good- the best in a long time. The locks are solid, but the loosies are woeful- without Louw and Vermuel- other than PSDT. The Welsh will attack the breakdown because none of the starting or bench players is specialist fetchers, or even effective in any capacity at the breakdown. This is the weakest area for the Boks. I have not seen the smaller donkey twin (Dan) do that much. Cassiem is not test standard, and neither is Qoupa Mohoje. Mohoje is worth a few head but tackles though. Shreuder is a sign of the times, given the poor depth at scrumhalf that SA have. However, surprised he leapt frogged into the matchday squad.

I agree Dreyer is a disaster waiting to happen. The starting 15 is about as good as it gets given the squad. Very weak bench it seems.

Our forwards will dominate. They are incredibly powerful and have been a beacon of light during this EOYT. I hope Gelant sparks our backline from the back. I worry about kleurtjie on the wing. He looks very scared.

I think Paige was left out of the match-day squad because he went missing at breakdown points at least twice against Italy, This is an old problem of his and he may fall off the bus next year in Super Rugby because of the same problem. As you ae aware I am not overly impressed with either Louw and Vermeulen in the tests they played in this year, Both are not the players they used to be three years ago and it will be surprising if they are called up for national duty next year. The loosie situation has been problematic for years now and hopefully some youngsters wil come through. The Stormers have two good youngsters in Van Wyk and Wiese and then we also have Kriel, Smith and Cloete around.

Best of luck to your chaps against the wee Welshmen!

You may not be overly impressed Tokkie....but 70 test Welsh international Shanklin is: Shanklin acknowledged that the Boks aren’t the team they once were, but said all hope was not lost. “There is plenty of talent in that team, but it just doesn’t seem to be clicking for one reason or another. South Africa seem to shine in patches, but are not gelling on a consistent basis. I don’t think they are as bad a team as some people make out - they still possess some amazing players. I have been impressed with the likes of Eben Etzebeth, Francois Louw, Duane Vermeulen and Jesse Kriel,” Shanklin said. Your big probem is even if the bone has no marrow, you just keep chewing it Tokkie.

Great Gelant in the team, but why is he not playing at 15? Was slogan dropped because he has absolutely no arial skills? Bench looks extremely week. None of these players have had a single cap all year and now you want to give them a 10 or 20 min crack. What happens if one of your front liners get injured early in the game like Coenie did 4 weeks ago. Don't get me wrong. I am have for Am and also think Schreuder can add value, but I don't think that they will do well under Coetzee. For me Schreuder and Lionel Cronje should have been that back up half back pairing back in June. So Coetzee wasted an entire season on dumb selections.

Mozart Your problem and those of rugby scribes is that they do not look at present performances - but at reputation. That resulted in fidasster such as the WC Japan test. I look at performances only and realize that Louw and Vermeulen are not a shadow of the players they used to be. FACT. They will ibly disgrace themselves sooner rather than later,