The Springboks have reverted to the starting XV and replacements that recorded a 49-3 victory over Italy a fortnight ago for the do-or-die Rugby World Cup quarter-final against Japan in Tokyo on Sunday.

It means 13 changes to the starting XV from the one which concluded the Boks’ pool campaign with a 66-7 demolition of Canada in Kobe last Tuesday.

Only Springbok captain Siya Kolisi and Damian de Allende – who switches from outside centre back to the more familiar inside centre position – are retained from the Kobe XV.

They are joined in the line-up by the balance of the starting XV from the seven-try-to-nil overwhelming of Italy in what has become a familiar ‘senior’ line-up.

“We were satisfied with the performance against Italy and want to build on that,” said Rassie Erasmus, South Africa’s director of rugby.

“We have been improving and building momentum this season and we will be looking for further improvements this weekend.

“Japan are a well-coached team and have deservedly climbed to seventh in the world rankings. It’ll be a good challenge but we’re definitely up for it.”

Front rankers Tendai Mtawarira and Bongi Mbonambi, as well as Lood de Jager retain their places in the starting line-up, having been elevated to the XV from the one which lost against New Zealand in the opening match of the tournament.

The starting XV boasts 665 caps – the most in a Springbok team since the 2015 Rugby World Cup – when the squad included three Test centurions in Jean de Villiers, Victor Matfield and Bryan Habana.

“When we set out on this campaign at the start of last season, one of the things we said we wanted to do was broaden and deepen the experience in the squad,” said Erasmus.

“We’re now in a position where everyone in the starting XV has had a proper taste of top-level Test rugby and we’ve got a strong spine of Test experience for these high-pressure matches.

“You need that experience when it comes to handling the pressure situations we will face on Sunday and I think we’ve achieved that now.”

The team to meet Japan contains five players with 50 or more caps in Willie le Roux, Duane Vermeulen (who wins 50^th cap as a No 8 – a Springbok record), Pieter-Steph du Toit, Eben Etzebeth and centurion Mtawarira. There are another four players in the 40s in Kolisi, De Jager, De Allende and Handré Pollard.

Twelve of the starting XV – and 21 of the 23 – were in the team that overcame Japan six-tries-to-one (41-7) in Kumagaya, Japan, six weeks ago. The only absentees are Trevor Nyakane (prop) and Jesse Kriel (centre), who have both been invalided out of the tournament.

De Jager and prop Vincent Koch – who is on the bench – are the only two players who were not in the match 23 for the victory over Japan.

Erasmus again announced a six-two replacement split in favour of the forwards (rather than the traditional five-three), as was successfully deployed against the Azzurri.

“We will look at our replacement strategy on a game-by-game basis and for this opponent on this occasion we believe we’ll need fresh legs among the forwards at some point,” said Erasmus.

“We’re very fortunate in that we have a squad that has a number of highly versatile players among forwards and backs who can slot into a number of positions to cover all eventualities.”

The Springboks are aiming to reach the Rugby World Cup semi-finals for the fifth time in seven appearances while, for Japan, it is their first appearance in the play-off rounds at the ninth attempt.

The winner will play the victor in the France v Wales match in Yokohama on Sunday, 27 October.

South Africa’s quarter-final with Japan kicks off at 12h15 (SA time, 19h15 local) and is available on SuperSport channel 201 and SABC radio.

The Springbok team to play Japan in Tokyo on Sunday is:

15. Willie le Roux (Toyota Verblitz, Japan), 58 caps - 60 points (12 tries)

14. Cheslin Kolbe (Toulouse, France), 12 - 35 (7t)

13. Lukhanyo Am (Cell C Sharks), 12 - 15 (3t)

12. Damian de Allende (DHL Stormers), 44 - 25 (5t)

11. Makazole Mapimpi (Cell C Sharks), 11 - 55 (11t)

10. Handré Pollard (Vodacom Bulls), 45 - 410 (6t, 70c, 76p, 4d)

9. Faf de Klerk (Sale Sharks, England), 27 - 15 (3t)

8. Duane Vermeulen (Vodacom Bulls), 51 - 15 (3t)

7. Pieter-Steph du Toit (DHL Stormers), 52 - 25 (5t)

6. Siya Kolisi (captain, DHL Stormers), 47 - 30 (6t)

5. Lood de Jager (Vodacom Bulls) 42 - 25 (5t)

4. Eben Etzebeth (DHL Stormers), 82 - 15 (3t)

3. Frans Malherbe (DHL Stormers), 35 - 5 (1t)

2. Bongi Mbonambi (DHL Stormers), 33 - 35 (7t)

1. Tendai Mtawarira (Cell C Sharks), 114 - 10 (2t)

Replacements:

16. Malcolm Marx (Emirates Lions), 30 - 25 (5t)

17. Steven Kitshoff (DHL Stormers), 44 - 5 (1t)

18. Vincent Koch (Saracens, England) 18 - 0

19. RG Snyman (Vodacom Bulls), 20 - 5 (1t)

20. Franco Mostert (Gloucester, England), 36 - 5 (1t)

21. Francois Louw (Bath, England), 73 - 50 (10t)

22. Herschel Jantjies (DHL Stormers), 8 - 20 (4t)

23. Frans Steyn (Montpellier, France), 64 - 141 (11t, 7c, 21p, 3d)

Facts and Stats

Japan qualified to play in the quarter-final match of the ninth Rugby World Cup tournament by winning all four pool matches in Pool A. It is the first time that Japan have progressed beyond the Pool stages in nine RWC tournaments.

Japan competed in all RWC tournaments between 1987and 2015, winning four Test matches from a total of 28. Their first win against a Tier 1 country was in 2015 against South Africa with a score of 34-32. At the time it was described as the “greatest RWC shock ever”.

In this year’s tournament the Brave Blossoms won all four of their pool matches which included Ireland and Scotland. Less than a month ago Ireland was ranked first on the World rankings with Scotland in seventh place and Japan in 10th. The current rankings are Ireland (4th), South Africa (5th), Japan (7th) and Scotland (9th).

This will be the third encounter between the two countries and the Springboks’ record to date is as follows:

TEAM MATCH RECORDS AGAINST JAPAN

• Most points: 41
• Most tries: 6
• Most conversions: 4
• Most penalty goals: 2

INDIVIDUAL MATCH RECORDS AGAINST JAPAN

• Most points: 15 – Makazole Mapimpi
• Most tries: 3 – Makazole Mapimpi
• Most conversions: 2 – Patrick Lambie, Handré Pollard and Frans Steyn
• Most penalty goals: 1 – Patrick Lambie and Handré Pollard

MISCELLANEOUS

• The total test caps for the Springbok starting line-up is 665.
• There are 209 caps in the backline with 456 caps among the forwards. On the bench there are a further 293 caps.
• The average caps per player in the backline is 30, the forwards 57 while the players on the bench average 37.
• The average age of the starting XV is 28.

RECORD WATCH

• Handré Pollard needs two tries to equal the career record of eight tries as a flyhalf held by Morné Steyn.
• Duane Vermeulen will play in his 50^th Test match as a Number 8. The most by a Springbok player.

MATCH OFFICIALS

• The referee is Wayne Barnes of England. This will be his 15^th Test match as a referee with South Africa involved and his 88^th Test match in his career.
• The assistant referees are Ben O’Keeffe of New Zealand and Luke Pearce of England while Rowan Kitt from England, will be the TMO.

Happy Boks “talk” themselves into Rugby World Cup last four

The Springboks produced a second half revival to clinch a place in the Rugby World Cup semi-finals after a ‘nervous’ first 40 raised hopes for a packed home crowd of a repeat of the ‘Miracle of Brighton’ which had seen Japan turn the rugby world on its head with victory over South Africa four years ago.

The Springboks stretched away from an edgy two-point halftime lead (5-3) with 21 unanswered points in the second half.

Makazole Mapimpi scored two more tries to take his tally to 13 in 12 Tests, while Faf de Klerk finished off a 40-metre rolling maul to claim the third.

“We’re happy to be through to the semi-finals but we were very nervous at halftime,” said Rassie Erasmus, South Africa’s director of rugby.

“Overall we were nervous going into this match; playing Japan with their home support and the way they played against Ireland and Scotland and they were definitely building momentum today.

“Going in at halftime we were only a few points up and having left a few tries out there, there was definitely a bit of a lull and a quietness in our change room.

“But I think after being together for 17 weeks the guys knew which buttons to push to get ourselves out of that lull and come and produce it in the second half. I’m proud of that. We’re through to the semi-finals and hopefully we can pull it through.”

Erasmus credited Bok captain Siya Kolisi, Duane Vermeulen and the other senior players for doing the key talking.

“If guys miss tackles and there’s a lack of commitment and there are effort errors, harsh words might help,” said Erasmus.

“But if it’s a bad pass or a missed opportunity or a skill error then it’s more a question of trying to get the guys confidence up and I guess that was the challenge at halftime.

“That’s where Siya and Duane and those guys did well at halftime. I think Siya and the boys did most of the talking and sorted that out.”

Kolisi said: “The message at halftime was to be patient and trust our plan. Our maul and our scrum were working. We didn’t take our opportunities in the first half, but we didn’t want to change anything, especially when we got turnover ball.

“And in the second half it worked. We got a mauling try and our scrum gave us penalties that gave us points. That was the main message – stick to the plan – and having positive chat throughout the game,” said Kolisi.

Erasmus was satisfied that the gameplan triumphed in the end.

“I don’t think it was a lack of effort in the first half,” he said.

“It was more the pressure Japan put on us and the amount of effort and intensity that they put onto us in the first half.

“I think we did really well in terms of intensity. But in terms of execution we weren’t that great.”

However, the outcome was an effective one for the Springboks as they stretched their record at this Rugby World Cup to four wins from five matches with only three tries conceded – and 30 scored – and a points difference of 211 for and only 39 against.

“Two of those tries were against New Zealand in four minutes, so I think we’ve not had long spells where we were under pressure and we folded,” said Erasmus.

“There’s a lot of people that see a few holes in our defence. But we really trust our system. Defence is a pretty important thing if you want to try and win a World Cup. But we were certainly tested today.

“To concede only 10 points in two games against Japan who have got a really good track record in this World Cup, the previous World Cup and the Pacific Nations Cup is good. We’ve got good confidence in our defensive system.”

That defensive system worked out to plan, with Japan succumbing to the Springboks’ set piece gameplan.

“We expected Japan to be a high-paced team, a fit team a team that almost announced in the media how fast they wanted to play,” said Erasmus.

“Our team selection was in the first place to see how – in the tight phases, the scrums, the mauls, the breakdown – we could physically impose ourselves there and in the same breath how we could contain their speed and the individual ‘Ferraris’ that they have.”

It was a particular challenge when the Boks were reduced to 14 men after the yellow carding of Tendai Mtawarira for a tip tackle.

Kolisi said the faith in the system had been the key for the team.

“There was a lot of heat coming – the ball was moving fast,” he said.

“But the things we pride ourselves in are our defence and work rate and how hard we work for one another. I think that’s what came out in that ten minutes.

“We knew what we needed to do. We had to work that bit extra but, as coach said, we have been together for so long, those kind of moments are when we pull together; that was one of those moments.”

Meanwhile Erasmus identified where the team needed to improve to advance in the tournament.

“We must find those pressure points and when we get the opportunities, we must utilise them and then don’t give away soft moments,” Erasmus said.

“That’s when we will have a real chance and be consistent. I think that’s the biggest work-on for us.

“I think we have the pack; I think we have the backline players to go all the way; but I think in a game which is 80 minutes and 40 minutes ball-in-play if you have four or five minutes of ball in play where you drop your concentration, which we did against New Zealand, you get found out.

“There was three or four minutes against Japan when we almost got caught out. So, I’d say we don’t have to improve that much in specific departments such as scrumming, mauling, lineouts or breakdown.

“It’s more to concentrate for the full 80 minutes where we need to improve if we want to try and win the World Cup.”

The Springboks play Wales in their semi-final on Sunday (kick off 11h00 SA time) at the Yokohama Stadium, after Wales beat France by 20-19 in the first semi-final earlier today.