Moerat Captains Boks As Rassie Rings The Changes

Salmaan Moerat will captain the Springboks as one of 10 changes to the starting line-up for their penultimate Test of the Rugby Championship against Argentina in Santiago del Estero on Saturday.

Regular captain Siya Kolisi was included in the 28-man touring squad but was not amongst the matchday 23 named by Rassie Erasmus.

The only five players retaining their starting places from the team that defeated the All Blacks 18-12 in Cape Town in the previous round are Ox Nche (prop), Ruan Nortje (lock), Jasper Wiese (No 8), Handre Pollard (flyhalf) and Jesse Kriel (centre).

Joining Nche in the front row are Malcolm Marx and Thomas du Toit, with Marco van Staden and Ben-Jason Dixon promoted to starting flanks.

Cobus Reinach and Pollard form an experienced halfback combination with Lukhanyo Am and Jesse Kriel making up the midfield, while there’s an all-new back trio in Makazole Mapimpi, Kurt-Lee Arendse and Aphelele Fassi.

After opting for a traditional five-three split bench for the rematch against New Zealand, Erasmus has reintroduced a six-two Bomb Squad with Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Gerhard Steenekamp and Vincent Koch acting as the replacement front row.

Eben Etzebeth will equal Victor Matfield’s Springbok record of 127 Test appearances if he comes on as the backup lock, with Elrigh Louw and Kwagga Smith set to add further explosiveness. The backline replacements are Jaden Hendrikse and Manie Libbok.

Unbeaten in this year’s Rugby Championship campaign, the back-to-back world champions top the log on 18 points with Argentina, coming off a record 67-27 win over the Wallabies in Santa Fe, sitting in second place on 10 points. New Zealand are third on seven and Australia fourth on four.

The Boks, therefore, only need three log points from their two remaining games against the Pumas to clinch their fifth Southern Hemisphere crown and their first since 2019.

Victory on Saturday would not only secure South Africa the silverware but would also make it their longest winning streak in the competition’s history (including the Tri-Nations) at six.

Fast facts:

• South Africa have won nine of the last 10 meetings between the teams (last losing 32-19 in Mendoza in 2018) and have lost only twice in 16 meetings in total in Argentina.
• Handre Pollard needs four points to overtake Morne Steyn (742 points) and move into second place on the Springbok all-time scorers’ list. Percy Montgomery leads with 893 points.
• Malcolm Marx’s try against New Zealand in Cape Town saw him increase his tally to 20 Test tries, equalling tenth equal place on the all-time Springbok try-scoring list with James Small. He is already the leading Springbok forward try-scorer.
• Eben Etzebeth will reach the significant milestone of equalling Victor Matfield’s record as the most-capped Springbok player with 127 Tests if he takes the field.
• This will mark the first Test between the teams at Estadio Unico Madre Ciudades in Santiago del Estero.
• Los Pumas have won only one of the four Tests played between the teams in Argentina in the last 10 games, which was in Mendoza in 2018.
• The total Test caps for the Springbok starting line-up is 488.
• There are 294 caps in the backline, with 195 caps among the forwards. On the bench, there are a further 277 caps.
• The average caps per player in the backline is 42, the forwards 24, while the players on the bench average 34.

South Africa: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Lukhanyo Am, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Ben-Jason Dixon, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Salmaan Moerat (captain), 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche.

Replacements: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Eben Etzebeth, 20 Elrigh Louw, 21 Kwagga Smith, 22 Jaden Hendrikse, 23 Manie Libbok.

Quintin van Jaarsveld

Quintin Van Jaarsveld is a former MDDA-Sanlam SA Local Sports Journalist of the Year and a former three-time Vodacom KwaZulu-Natal Sports Journalist of the Year. Formerly the sports editor and Outstanding Journalist of the Year award winner at The Fever Media Group, deputy editor at eHowzit, editor at SARugby.com and senior staff writer at Rugby365.com, he boasts over 15 years’ experience and is currently a freelance sports writer.