Double World Cup-winning Springbok captain, Siya Kolisi, plays in the number eight position, whilst exciting winger Edwill van der Merwe will be facing the Wallabies for the very first time in a Test match when South Africa face Australia in a Rugby Championship opener at Ellis Park in Johannesburg on Saturday.
Kolisi, 34, a long-time openside warrior, will now be the last line of the scrum’s spine, guiding the ball from its cradle like a general surveying the battlefield from the high ground. Alongside him, Pieter-Steph du Toit at blindside and Marco van Staden on the openside, form a loose trio built for attrition and ambush.
This is a combination coach Rassie Erasmus believes can set the tempo in the Springboks’ Rugby Championship opener against Australia.
Kolisi has played eighthman for the Sharks before, but this is a fresh chapter in his national colours.
We’ve been experimenting with player combinations during the Castle Lager Incoming Series and at our conditioning camp in the last two weeks, and we believe this team will allow us to play the type of rugby we want to play against Australia.
Experience Overflows Like a Flooded Dam
Erasmus’ squad is soaked in Test experience: 18 Rugby World Cup winners, a pack brimming with grizzled campaigners, and only one debutant from the July series. Just three players, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Edwill van der Merwe, and Asenathi Ntlabakanye, have five caps or fewer. The rest carry the scars, muscle memory, and steel nerves forged in the game’s most hostile arenas.
For Eben Etzebeth, the match is another milestone carved into his granite-like legacy. His 134th cap will nudge him into joint-10th on the all-time global list alongside Welsh prop Gethin Jenkins, passing Ireland’s Conor Murray in the process. In the Bok engine room, he and Lood de Jager will be the pistons powering a scrum designed to sap Wallaby resistance.
Backline Built for Strike and Counterstrike
Behind them, Erasmus has unleashed a backline designed for both grind and flash. Aphelele Fassi will patrol fullback like a hawk, with wings Kurt-Lee Arendse and the in-form Van der Merwe primed to turn half-chances into points. Jesse Kriel and Andre Esterhuizen reunite in midfield after Damian de Allende’s back niggle.
Commenting on the niggle to De Allende, Erasmus said:
Damian picked up a back niggle in the last two weeks and will train again this week, but Andre has been strong for us in the last few seasons, so it was an easy decision to name him alongside Jesse in the midfield.
Cheslin (Kolbe) has also recovered from a niggle and trained with us last week, but we decided to exercise caution and give him extra time at training before selecting him. Edwill has been in good form this season, and it will be good to see what he brings in this match.
At the controls, Manie Libbok’s boot and Grant Williams’ sniping runs will dictate tempo, like dual conductors orchestrating a score that shifts between thunderous forward drives and lightning-quick backline sweeps.
A Wallaby Threat with Teeth
The Wallabies arrive emboldened by a 22-12 win over the British & Irish Lions, having narrowly lost 29-26 in the match before. Erasmus has read the signs.
Australia showed that they are on the right trajectory in their last two matches against the British & Irish Lions and we have no doubt they will enter this match with confidence and determined to build on those performances.
That hunger meets a Bok side chasing their fifth consecutive win over the Australians, carrying the muscle memory of victories in both 2024 fixtures Down Under, and in 2023 and 2022.
They are a physical and well-coached team, and we’ll certainly not underestimate how much those performances, combined with their motivation to bounce back strongly against us after the last few results between the teams, and win their first match ever at Ellis Park, will inspire them.
That said, we have also been working hard to keep building on our game and improve, and we believe our two-week conditioning camp has placed us in the right frame of mind for the Castle Lager Rugby Championship. So hopefully we can transfer that hard work into our game to place ourselves in a good position to defend the title.
Bench With Bite
Even the replacements carry menace: Bongi Mbonambi, Wessels, and Ntlabakanye bring fresh artillery to the front row, while Franco Mostert and Kwagga Smith provide back-row reinforcements. Cobus Reinach, Canan Moodie, and Damian Willemse add counter-attack firepower from the bench.
Ellis Park has never been conquered by the Wallabies. On Saturday, the Boks will aim to keep it that way with Kolisi, steering the chariot from a new seat, and a squad built like a siege engine ready to grind the visitors into the turf.
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)
Facts and Stats
Head-to-head v Australia:
Played 95; Won 52; Lost 40; Drawn 3; Points for: 1 923, Points against: 1 672; Tries scored 227, Tries conceded 171; Highest score 61-22 (Pretoria, 1997); Biggest win 45 points (53-8, Johannesburg 2008). Win % 54.7%.
