Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber says he has confidence in the squad that will battle it out with the All Blacks in Saturday’s Rugby World Cup (RWC) Final.
Nienaber, who will be coaching the Boks for the last time (will be leaving for Leinster in Ireland), has made two changes to the squad that beat England 16-15 in the semifinal.
Scrumhalf Faf de Klerk and flyhalf Handré Pollard make their way back to replace Cobus Reinach and Manie Libbok, making them the most capped nine-and-ten combination in Springbok history.
Pollard and de Klerk are among the starting team which features 10 players who started in the RWC final four years ago in Japan, and is the most experienced in Springbok history with a combined total of 987 caps (surpassing the record set the previous week against Egland of 895 Test caps).
“This is an experienced team with several players who played in the last Rugby World Cup final and who know exactly what to expect at Stade de France on Saturday and what it will take to retain the title.
“The players who will be playing in their first World Cup final have also proven their worth as warriors throughout this campaign, and they are all ready for this massive occasion.
We have said many times that we pick teams for varying game plans depending on the opponent and that we use all 23 players to try and achieve those goals.
We’ve gone from a five-three bench split to a seven-one split to give us the best chance of being successful. We have plans in place to mitigate injuries in the backline, but we’re excited about our plan, and we embrace the risk,” said Nienaber.
When you think of rugby rivalries, the enduring rivalry between the All Blacks and Springboks quickly comes to mind and after almost 30 years, the sides will once again meet in a RWC final.
The All Blacks first met South Africa on the World Cup stage at the iconic 1995 final, where Francios Pienaar led the Springboks to lifting the Webb Ellis Cup for the first time, so in essence a place in history awaits the winner as they will become the first men’s team in Rugby World Cup history to win four titles.
All Blacks v South Africa at the Rugby World Cup
Played: 5 matches
Won: All Blacks 3, South Africa 2
Points: All Blacks 102, South Africa 77
Springbok team to face New Zealand in the Rugby World Cup final:
15 – Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers) – 38 caps
14 – Kurt-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls) – 14 caps
13 – Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles) – 67 caps
12 – Damian de Allende (Wild Knights) – 77 caps
11 – Cheslin Kolbe (Suntory Sungoliath) – 30 caps
10 – Handré Pollard (Leicester Tigers) – 68 caps
9 – Faf de Klerk (Canon Eagles) – 54 caps
8 – Duane Vermeulen (SA Rugby) – 75 caps
7 – Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz) 75 caps
6 – Siya Kolisi (captain – Racing 92) – 82 caps
5 – Franco Mostert (Honda Heat, Japan) – 72 caps
4 – Eben Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 118 caps
3 – Frans Malherbe (DHL Stormers) – 68 caps
2 – Bongi Mbonambi (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 67 caps
1 – Steven Kitshoff (Ulster) – 82 caps
Kick-off for Saturday’s match is set for 9pm (SA time)
