Just two changes in match-23 from combination that beat Italy in Turin

Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus showed faith in the players who steered the team to victory against Italy for Friday’s second Nations Championship Northern Series Test against France.

Erasmus made just two changes from Saturday’s 66-7 win in Turin to his match-23 for the Test in Paris (10.10pm SA time), with Wilco Louw moving into the starting XV and Cobus Reinach being drafted onto the bench.

Louw will join forces with Ox Nché and Malcolm Marx in the front row in the only change to the starting team.

Thomas du Toit will link up with Jan-Hendrik Wessels and Gerhard Steenekamp among the replacements, with the other change among the impact players being the inclusion of Reinach, who played club rugby for Montpellier, replacing Grant Williams.

Lood de Jager and Ruan Nortje will again partner in the second row after Erasmus was forced to make a late change to his match-day squad in Turin last week due to the withdrawal of Salmaan Moerat with back spasms during the warmup. The experienced loose trio of captain Siya Kolisi, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Jasper Wiese complete the forward pack.

Erasmus kept his backline with Morné van den Berg and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu at halfback, Jesse Kriel and Damian de Allende in the midfield and Ethan Hooker, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Damian Willemse serving as the back three.

The Bok coach retained the split of six forwards and two backs on the bench. Utility forward Franco Mostert and loose forwards Cameron Hanekom and Paul de Villiers are impact players alongside the front row of Wessels, Steenekamp and Thomas du Toit. Reinach, who covers scrumhalf and wing, and Manie Libbok are the two backline players.

A total of 16 players in the match-23 featured in the Boks’ 32-17 victory over France in Paris last year, including the entire starting forward pack with the exception of Nché, and five of the backs in the run-on team: Feinberg-Mngomezulu, De Allende, Kriel and Willemse. Ten players in the group were members of the team that defeated France 29-28 in the 2023 World Cup quarterfinal.

“We said from the outset that we would not rotate too much on this tour, so it was always our intention to select a settled squad for this game to build momentum in the competition,” Erasmus said.

“Most of these players have faced France at home and know what to expect from them and they have also experienced their passionate and vocal crowd first-hand.”

Of the two changes to his matchday team, Erasmus said: “Our front rows are well settled and have all been playing together for a few seasons, so we made a rotational switch with Wilco and Thomas, while Cobus is also very familiar with the French conditions as he played club rugby here.”

On the decision not to name Eben Etzebeth, who joined the squad early on Monday morning, Erasmus said: “Eben just arrived in France and though we know what he brings to the team, we feel it would be better for him to get back into the swing of things this week after some time on the sidelines.

“Lood and Franco are also very experienced players and they have been training with us for almost two weeks now after arriving in Italy the week prior to last week’s Test match. They’ve both faced France in high-pressure matches and delivered, so we know what we have in them and what they will bring to the team this week.”

Springbok XV

• 15 Damian Willemse (Stormers) – 56 caps, 81 pts (9t, 9c, 4p, 2dg);
• 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse (Dynaboars) – 36 caps, 135 pts (27t);
• 13 Jesse Kriel (Eagles) – 95 caps, 125 pts (25t);
• 12 Damian de Allende (Wild Knights) – 104 caps, 65 pts (13t);
• 11 Ethan Hooker (Sharks) – 15 caps, 15 pts (3t);
• 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (Stormers) – 26 caps, 221 pts (10t, 59c, 15p);
• 9 Morne van den Berg (Lions) – 12 caps, 42 pts (8t, 1c);
• 8 Jasper Wiese (Urayasu D-Rocks) – 51 caps, 20 pts (4t);
• 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit (Verblitz) – 103 caps, 75 pts (15t);
• 6 Siya Kolisi (captain, Stormers) – 108 caps, 80 pts (16t);
• 5 Ruan Nortje (Kubota Spears) - 25 caps, 5 pts (1t);
• 4 Lood de Jager (Wild Knights) – 79 caps, 25 pts (5t);
• 3 Wilco Louw (Stormers) – 37 caps, 15 pts (3t);
• 2 Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) – 95 caps, 145 pts (31t);
• 1 Ox Nche (Sharks) – 54 caps, 5 pts (1t).

Replacements:

• 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Bulls) – 16 caps, 10 pts (2t);
• 17 Gerhard Steenekamp (Bulls) – 24 caps, 10 pts (2t);
• 18 Thomas du Toit (Sharks) – 38 caps, 10 pts (2t);
• 19 Franco Mostert (Heat) – 86 caps, 20 pts (4t);
• 20 Cameron Hanekom (Bulls) – 7 caps, 10 pts (2t);
• 21 Paul de Villiers (Stormers) – 6 caps, 10 pts (2t);
• 22 Cobus Reinach (Stormers) – 57 caps, 100 pts (20t);
• 23 Manie Libbok (Kintetsu Liners) – 35 caps, 149 pts (2t, 50c, 13p).