Boks pick Lood, Bongi and Beast for Italy clash

It was widely expected that Erasmus would select a similar starting XV for their more difficult Pool B matches of the Rugby World Cup against New Zealand and Italy. 

Their clashes against Namibia and Canada would allow for the wider squad to get game time, while the two high profile pool clashes called for a best possible XV.

However exceptional performances against Namibia from lock Lood de Jager, hooker Bongi Mbonambi and veteran prop Beast Mtawarira have seen all three elevated to the starting lineup for Friday’s must-win clash in Shizuoka.

The rest of the starting XV remains unchanged from the team that lost to the All Blacks 23-13 two weeks ago while South Africa have opted for a 6-2 mix of forwards and backs on the bench. 

Playing their way into the starting lineup

De Jager, Mbonambi and Mtawarira have seemingly played their way into first choice positions given that the Springboks have talked up the looming challenge posed by the Italian forward pack.

It’s a major factor in the decision made by Erasmus this week, considering the focus on scrums and mauls.

“Trevor and Bongi and Beast really had some great performances when they got opportunities, especially at scrum time. The challenge we will get this weekend will definitely be upfront, not that we think that they don’t have a great backline, but we think the physical challenge upfront will be at scrum time and mauling,” Erasmus said on Tuesday.

READ: Boks pick Lood, Bongi and Beast for Italy clash

De Jager’s switch with Franco Mostert is one that wouldn’t have been made lightly. The Bulls lock was produced a man of the match performance against Namibia last week and was particularly impressive at the set piece.

This is where Erasmus believes his team can mix it up against Italy, given that their opponents have had a longer period of time to prepare for the game. The Springbok boss believes that Italy will be targeting this game to secure a quarterfinal and they would have done their homework on the South African lineouts.

“Lood is exceptional at lineout time so in a six day turnaround, to change things a lot, Lood is good at that. He showed it this weekend. Having him in charge of that in a short turnaround and with Franco coming onto the field later on giving you that workrate makes that switch really easy for us. Hopefully we’ll reap the benefits from that.”

The Springboks face Italy on Friday. Kickoff is at 11h45 South African time.

Springbok team (15-1): Willie le Roux, Cheslin Kolbe, Lukhanyo Am, Damian de Allende, Makazole Mapimpi, Handre Pollard, Duane Vermeulen, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi, Lood de Jager, Eben Etzebeth, Frans Malherbe, Bongi Mbonambi, Beast Mtawarira.

Replacements: Malcolm Marx, Steven Kitshoff, Vincent Koch, RG Snyman, Franco Mostert, Francois Louw, Herschel Jantjies, Frans Steyn.