Familiar faces return as Erasmus tweaks Springbok side to face All Blacks

Captain Kolisi has made a remarkable recovery from the big hit he took last weekend to take his place in the starting line-up.

Returning to the Bok backline on Saturday are flyhalf Handre Pollard, who swaps places with Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu; Canan Moodie, who returns on the wing; Willie le Roux, back in place of Aphelele Fassi at fullback; and Jaden Hendrikse and Lukhanyo Am, who both return to the bench.

Moodie and Hendrikse return for the first time since running out in the Bok jersey against Tonga in the Rugby World Cup pool stages in France 11 months ago.

Grant Williams has been given a rare start at No 9 after a stellar performance for the Boks in Johannesburg, while Cobus Reinach drops out of the matchday 23.

In all, there are seven changes, two of which are positional, to the starting XV which defeated the All Blacks 31-27 at Ellis Park.

There are very few changes up front, with the return of Eben Etzebeth to the starting line-up the only major alteration.

Captain Kolisi, who took a hard blow to the cheek in last week's clash, made it through all the training sessions this week, and has been cleared to play, which will see him start in a powerful loose trio with Jasper Wiese and Pieter-Steph du Toit, who reverts from lock to flanker.

Etzebeth will pair up with the hard-working Ruan Nortje in the engine room, while Du Toit's inclusion in the loose trio and Le Roux as the last line of defence sees Ben-Jason Dixon and Aphelele Fassi sit out of this week's encounter, along with scrumhalf Reinach.

Moodie fills the void left by Kurt-Lee Arendse, who has been ruled out of the match due to concussion, with his inclusion seeing Kolbe move from the right to left wing.

The Boks have reverted to a traditional five-three split on the bench with Am joining Hendrikse and Feinberg-Mngomezulu among the back replacements.

"This match is going to massive," said Erasmus.

"New Zealand are a world class outfit and we know that they'll be desperate to bounce back after leading in the second half last week.

"They'll also be fully aware of the fact that a victory could give them a huge boost on the Castle Lager Rugby Championship standings, and they'll be playing to retain the Freedom Cup, which they've held since 2010. It's going to be another epic encounter.

"They're a quality team with a lot of pace and several players who have a great X-factor. We also saw last week what they can do if they get a strong start, while they have proven time and time again that they are a team that can close out games under a lot of pressure in the last 20 minutes, so it's going to take a huge team effort to register a victory against them."

Erasmus was delighted to have Kolisi in his starting team and said: "Siya is a world-class player and captain, and he adds immense value to the team with the way he leads by example and galvanises the team when the pressure is on.

"Similarly to the call we made with Eben last week, our team policy is that if a player trains on a Monday and gets through training during the week pain free, they can be selected for the weekend, and Siya did just that.

"Honesty from the players about whether they can play and deliver fully on what we expect from them is a key part of our team culture, so have full faith in Siya to give everything on the field."

A total of 13 players in the team played in the Rugby World Cup final against the All Blacks, which the Springboks won 12-11. They are: Bongi Mbonambi, Frans Malherbe, Etzebeth, captain Siya Kolisi, Du Toit, Pollard, Kolbe, Damian de Allende, Jesse Kriel, Ox Nche, Kwagga Smith, Jasper Wiese and Le Roux.

Another victory on Saturday would see the Springboks take a major step toward winning the competition for the first time since 2019.

"It would be fantastic to achieve that as a team, but if you look too far ahead it comes back to bite you," said Erasmus.

"The focus for us all week is to try to deliver the best possible performance we can against New Zealand and to correct the wrongs of last week.

"New Zealand have not been the best team in the world for some many years for nothing. They're a formidable team and they've shown in the past against us that you never write them off. We saw how they bounced back against Argentina after losing their first match of the tournament.

"They'll also be motivated by the fact that Cape Town has been a good hunting ground for them; they'll be inspired to make a strong statement this week.

"Like us, they've a lot to play for, so we know it'll be as intense and as tight as it ever has been between us. It's going to take another hard grind for the full 80 minutes.

South Africa: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Canan Moodie, 13  Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende,  11 Cheslin Kolbe, 10 Handre Pollard,  9 Grant Williams, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche

Replacements: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Kwagga Smith, 20 Elrigh Louw, 21 Jaden Hendrikse, 22 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 23 Lukhanyo Am 

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