Boks tweak squad for France Test with Libbok on bench

Springboks head coach Jacques Nienaber has named five changes to his squad while including flyhalf Manie Libbok on the bench for Saturday’s Test against France in Marseille.

The second Test of the Castle Lager Outgoing Tour starts at 22:00 at the Stade Vélodrome. Willie le Roux will be back in the starting lineup at fullback.

Meanwhile, Cheslin Kolbe moves to the right wing and Kurt-Lee Arendse moves to the left wing. Makazole Mapimpi has been named as a replacement. Faf de Klerk starts at scrumhalf instead of Jaden Hendrikse, which is the other change in the backline.

Nienaber also made changes to his forward pack. Tighthead prop Frans Malherbe is now in the new front row with prop Ox Nche and hooker Bongi Mbonambi. Lock Lood de Jager is out with an injury, so Franco Mostert moves from the bench to the starting lineup.

Other changes in the replacements are Cobus Reinach, who will cover at scrumhalf, Steven Kitshoff (prop), Malcolm Marx (hooker), and Marvin Orie. The uncapped Libbok is in the matchday squad for the first time in a Test for the first time (lock). Nienaber chose to have three backs and five forwards on the bench for this Test.

“One of the changes was injury enforced as Lood suffered a shoulder injury against Ireland, while we opted to make a few tactical personnel changes for the challenge that we expect France to pose,” said Nienaber.

“We know what each of the players in this squad can do, and we thought these combinations fit this specific game.

“A guy like Cobus will also bring a different dimension to our attack, and it a bonus that he knows the conditions in France and has also played with some of their players.

“Manie, meanwhile, has showed his big match temperament in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship and he has been training well since joining the team, so if he gets a run, it will be a great occasion to make his Test debut. It is going to be a challenging game, but it doesn’t get better than playing against the second ranked team in the world on your debut.”

He added: “France have showed in the last year what a force they can be, and they come off a morale-boosting victory against Australia, so we know we are in for.

“Facing France, who are ranked second in the world, on their home patch at what we expect will be a full stadium is great preparation for next year, as the players will experience first-hand what they are in for.

“We will also be playing at this stadium during the World Cup, so this match will be good for us in many ways.”

Speaking on the threat France could pose, Nienaber said: “They have a good pack of forwards who pride themselves on their set pieces and talented backs who can spark something from nothing, so they will test us all around.

“That said, we know what our players are capable of, and if we had capitalised on more of our opportunities against Ireland we could have been on the right end of the scoreboard. The reality is that we lost against the best team in the world at home in front of a capacity crowd by three points.

“We’ve spoken about what went wrong last week and we are working hard on rectifying those areas so that we can we play our potential and make the nation proud this weekend.”

Springbok team to face France:

15 – Willie le Roux (Toyota Verblitz), Cheslin Kolbe (Toulon), Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles), Damian de Allende (Wild Knights), Kurt-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls), Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers), Faf de Klerk (Canon Eagles), – Jasper Wiese (Leicester Tigers), Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz), Siya Kolisi (captain, Cell C Sharks), Franco Mostert (Honda Heat), Eben Etzebeth (Cell C Sharks), Frans Malherbe (DHL Stormers), Bongi Mbonambi (Cell C Sharks), Ox Nche (Cell C Sharks).

Replacements:

16 – Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears), Steven Kitshoff (DHL Stormers), Vincent Koch (unattached), Marvin Orie (DHL Stormers), Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs), Cobus Reinach (Montpellier), Manie Libbok (DHL Stormers), Makazole Mapimpi (Cell C Sharks).