Boks unchanged for World Cup opener

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Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has named an unchanged match-day 23 for their World Cup clash with the All Blacks in Yokohama on Saturday.

The squad is unchanged from the one that beat World Cup hosts Japan in the final warm-up in Saitama earlier this month.

The combination also fought to a 16-16 draw with the same opposition in Wellington before beating Argentina, 46-13, in Salta on their way to the Rugby Championship. The one exception is fit-again captain Siya Kolisi, who replaced Kwagga Smith to lead the side out against Japan.

No 8 Duane Vermeulen will win his 50th Test cap as one of 22 players who will be appearing in their fourth match together this season.

It is the first time the Boks have named an unchanged squad since the 2015 World Cup semi-final against the All Blacks.

This is the fifth meeting between the teams at a World Cup. The Springboks won the 1995 final and 1999 bronze-medal match, while New Zealand took the 2003 quarter-final and 2015 semi-final.

Springboks – 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Steven Kitshoff.
Subs: 16 Bongi Mbonambi17 Tendai Mtawarira, 18 Trevor Nyakane, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Francois Louw, 21 Herschel Jantjies, 22 Frans Steyn, 23 Jesse Kriel.

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