Jacques Nienaber recalls stars ahead of decider with Wales

Jacques Nienaber recalls first-choice stars ahead of South Africa’s series decider with Wales… after resting Siya Kolisi, Cheslin Kolbe and Damian de Allende saw the Dragons earn their first win on Springbok soil

  • South Africa are eager to win Saturday’s series decider against Wales
  • Springbok head coach Jacques Nienaber has recalled his first-choice stars
  • He has decided to make a total of 11 changes to the starting side for the finale 
  • Wales shocked SA 13-12 last weekend to earn their first win on Springbok soil 

South Africa have admitted they must win Saturday’s series decider with Wales and will have to deliver a ‘top-class performance’ in Cape Town to do so. 

Springbok head coach Jacques Nienaber has recalled his first-choice stars and made 11 changes to the starting side for the finale. 

Wales shocked South Africa 13-12 last weekend to earn their first win on Springbok soil, beating a team without the rested Siya Kolisi, Cheslin Kolbe, Damian de Allende and others. 

South Africa are eager to win Saturday’s series decider against Wales and  head coach Jacques Nienaber (above) has recalled his first-choice stars as a result 

All three players – plus Damian Willemse, Lukhanyo Am, Makazole Mapimpi, Jasper Wiese, Lood de Jager, Frans Malherbe, Bongi Mbonambi and Trevor Nyakane – are back to start this weekend. 

Lock Etzebeth will be the only South African to start all three Wales Tests and will win his 100th cap in the final fixture. 

South Africa won the first Test in narrow fashion against a gritty Welsh side. Etzebeth, who made his Springbok debut against England in 2012, will become the seventh South African to reach the significant milestone of a century of Test caps. 

Wales shocked South Africa 13-12 last weekend to earn their first win on Springbok soil

Siya Kolisi (above), Cheslin Kolbe and Damian de Allende were not in the squad but will return to the starting side for this weekend’s finale 

He follows in the footsteps of Victor Matfield, Bryan Habana, Tendai Mtawarira, John Smit, Jean de Villiers and Percy Montgomery. Hooker Mbonambi will win his 50th cap. 

‘We are very proud of Eben and Bongi for their achievements, although it would be remiss of us as a team for that to out-shadow the fact we need to win on Saturday to seal the series against Wales,’ said Nienaber. 

‘Wales have shown over the years and in the last two matches they are real fighters and it will require a top-class performance from us on Saturday to register a victory and ultimately clinch the series. 

SOUTH AFRICA’S TEAM FOR FINAL AGAINST WALES

Damian Willemse; Cheslin Kolbe, Lukhanyo Am, Damian de Allende, Makazole Mapimpi; Handre Pollard, Jaden Hendrikse; Trevor Nyakane, Bongi Mbonambi, Frans Malherbe, Eben Etzebeth, Lood de Jager, Siya Kolisi (capt), Pieter-Steph du Toit, Jasper Wiese

Replacements: Malcom Marx, Steven Kitshoff, Vincent Koch, Franco Mostert, Kwagga Smith, Elrigh Louw, Faf de Klerk, Willie le Roux

‘That said, Eben and Bongi have been true stalwarts to Springbok rugby and we hope we can make this a special occasion for them. No-one wants to remember losing their 100th or 50th Test, so we need to do everything we can to win the match.’ 

Of his team selection, Nienaber said: ‘We selected a team and player combinations we think will be the best for this specific game. 

‘We had an honest discussion with the players telling them what we require from them this weekend and what we would like to see in terms of their performance. 

‘Hopefully they can produce the goods and we can get the desired result. We have high standards as a team and we would like to maintain that and build momentum with a challenging season lying ahead.’ 

Nienaber expects another brave effort from Wales and said: ‘We pointed out from the outset of the series that Wales will be desperate and they showed that in the last two weeks. 

‘We are expecting another hard grind against them and the fact that they will be playing for their first series victory in South Africa will make them even more desperate to push us to the limit this weekend. We know it will be an epic battle. 

‘That said, we are also playing in what is essentially a final for us and we know we need to pitch up on the day and deliver a quality 80-minute performance to emerge victorious.’ 

Wales name their team on Thursday. Head coach Wayne Pivac will have to make at least one change after wing Alex Cuthbert was ruled out of the final Test with a shoulder injury.




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