Vermeulen to lead Boks as Kleyn earns SA debut

Experienced No 8 Duane Vermeulen will lead the Springboks for the third time in their opening Castle Lager Rugby Championship clash against Australia at Loftus Versfeld on Saturday.

Vermeulen leads a team featuring a core of Rugby World Cup winners and talented newcomers – who have excelled at vital moments in the past few seasons – and includes a debutant in former Ireland international lock Jean Kleyn, who will earn his first Springbok Test cap.

Flyhalf Manie Libbok and loose forward Marco van Staden also make their first starts having previously made three and 10 appearances respectively as replacements.

Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber also named 14 players to depart early for New Zealand on Tuesday to acclimatise and maximise the chances of performing well in the first two Tests, separated by seven days, and 12 000km and 10 time zones.

Vermeulen, who captained the Springboks against Argentina and the All Blacks in 2019, takes over the armband from the injured Siya Kolisi, and forms a powerful loose trio against the Wallabies with Pieter-Steph du Toit and Van Staden, while Nienaber selected a front row featuring props Frans Malherbe and Ox Nche, and hooker Bongi Mbonambi. Kleyn partners Marvin Orie at lock.

In the backline, exciting Vodacom Bulls wingers Canan Moodie and Kurt-Lee Arendse will play in front of their home fans with experienced fullback Willie le Roux serving as the last line of defence at fullback while Lukhanyo Am returns for the first time since August to renew a former Cell C Sharks provincial partnership with Andre Esterhuizen.

Libbok is partnered at halfback by scrumhalf Cobus Reinach – who makes his first start since the final match of the 2021 season.

Nienaber opted for a six-two split in favour of the forwards on the bench with the only two backline players; Grant Williams, who will provide cover at scrumhalf and wing, and Damian Willemse who will cover flyhalf, centre and fullback.

Flyhalf Elton Jantjies, prop Trevor Nyakane and scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies will remain with the team to assist in their preparations for Saturday’s season-opener and to provide cover if necessary, meaning the coaches will have a group of 26 players to work with this week.

“Our plan from the outset was to select a squad that we believe has what it takes to beat Australia while at the same time selecting a group of players that could travel to New Zealand to give us the best possible chance to do well in both matches,” said Nienaber.

“Our last Castle Lager Rugby Championship match is in Johannesburg and then we’ll be able to select a squad from our full complement of players.

“This squad features several Rugby World Cup winners and a crop of younger players who have done the job for us at the highest level, and judging by their enthusiasm and high work ethic at training, we know they are the right players for this big task.”

Nienaber was pleased to have a leader of Vermeulen’s calibre to steer the team into battle and said: “We had a few options as potential captains and we have two good leaders in Duane and Lukhanyo, who has been named vice-captain for this match. They are both quality leaders and they’ll have a lot of experience around them on the field, which is fantastic for us as coaches.”

Commenting on the threat Australia posed, Nienaber said: “They are a top-class team and have a great tactician in head coach Eddie Jones.

“This will be the first time we see them play under his leadership in a while, so our focus is mainly on our game and what we would like to do in the match. This game is very important to set the tone for us this season, and we know that regardless of what style of play Australia dishes up it’s going to a physical and hard match.”

The group departing early to New Zealand with a handful of management includes Kolisi, who will continue to work with the medical and conditioning staff on his rehabilitation from a knee surgery. They will be joined early by Nienaber, assistant coach Felix Jones and Director of Rugby, Rassie Erasmus, who will travel to New Zealand immediately after the Australia Test to ensure that the team has a full week of training.

Another 17 or 18 players and team management members will travel to New Zealand on Sunday afternoon. That group of players will be decided following the Test against Australia – based on the team’s needs for the forthcoming Test against New Zealand and player performances against Australia.

The players that will travel to New Zealand on Tuesday are Steven Kitshoff (prop), Malcolm Marx (hooker), Eben Etzebeth, Lood de Jager (both locks), Franco Mostert and Jean-Luc du Preez (both utility forwards), Kwagga Smith (loose forward), Faf de Klerk (scrumhalf), Cheslin Kolbe and Makazole Mapimpi (both wings), Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel (both centres), and Kolisi.

Jasper Wiese (loose forward) will join those players in New Zealand later in the week following the birth of his child on Monday.

Springbok team to face Australia in Pretoria:

15 – Willie le Roux (Toyota Verblitz) – 83 caps, 65 pts (13t)

14 – Canan Moodie (Vodacom Bulls) – 4 caps, 5 pts (1t)

13 – Lukhanyo Am (Cell C Sharks) – 31 caps, 30 pts (6t)

12 – Andre Esterhuizen (Harlequins) – 11 caps, 0 pts

11 – Kurt-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls) – 7 caps, 35 pts (7t)

10 – Manie Libbok (DHL Stormers) – 3 caps, 10 pts (5c)

9 – Cobus Reinach (Montpellier) – 24 caps, 45 pts (9t)

8 – Duane Vermeulen (captain, Ulster) – 65 caps, 15 pts (3t)

7 – Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz) – 66 caps, 25 pts (5t)

6 – Marco van Staden (Vodacom Bulls) – 10 caps, 0 pts

5 – Marvin Orie (DHL Stormers) – 11 caps, 0 pts

4 – Jean Kleyn (Munster) – uncapped for SA (Ireland 5 caps)

3 – Frans Malherbe (DHL Stormers) – 58 caps, 5 pts (1t)

2 – Bongi Mbonambi (Cell C Sharks) – 56 caps, 60 pts (12t)

1 – Ox Nche (Cell C Sharks) – 19 caps, 0 pts

Replacements:

16 – Joseph Dweba (DHL Stormers) – 4 caps, 0 pts

17 – Thomas du Toit (Cell C Sharks) – 15 caps, 0 pts

18 – Vincent Koch (Stade Francais) – 41 caps, 0 pts

19 – RG Snyman (Munster) – 23 caps, 5 pts (1t)

20 – Evan Roos (DHL Stormers) – 3 caps, 0 pts

21 – Deon Fourie (DHL Stormers) – 5 caps, 0 pts

22 – Grant Williams (Cell C Sharks) – 1 cap, 0 pts

23 – Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers) – 27 caps, 36 pts (2t, 4c, 4p, 2d)

Springbok records against Australia

Played 92; Won 49; Lost 40; Drawn 3; Points for: 1 817, Points against: 1 641; Tries scored 212, Tries conceded 168; Highest score 61-22; Biggest win 45 points. Win % 53%.

Milestones:

• The Springboks have won all seven Test matches between the teams at Loftus Versfeld since 1963.
• The Springboks need two penalty goals to score 200 penalty goals against the Wallabies.
• Duane Vermeulen will lead the Springboks for the third time in Saturday’s Test – he led the team on two occasions in 2019 against Argentina and New Zealand.

Miscellaneous:

• The total Test caps for the Springbok starting line-up is 448.
• There are 163 caps in the backline, with 285 caps among the forwards. On the bench there are a further 119 caps.
• The average caps per player in the backline is 23, the forwards 35, while the players on the bench average 14.