Rugby-Kolisi back for Springboks as trio to debut against Georgia
Kolisi will play at flanker alongside Pieter-Steph du Toit and number eight Cobus Wiese, as the latter takes over from his brother Jasper, who was suspended for four matches following a red card in the 45-0 win over Italy last Saturday. Eben Etzebeth returns to the side with Ruan Nortje in the second row, while props Boan Venter and Neethling Fouche make their debuts for the four-time Rugby World Cup winners.
Captain Siya Kolisi will make his first appearance of the season for South Africa following a return from injury as the Springboks include three debutants for the one-off test against Georgia in Nelspruit on Saturday. Kolisi will play at flanker alongside Pieter-Steph du Toit and number eight Cobus Wiese, as the latter takes over from his brother Jasper, who was suspended for four matches following a red card in the 45-0 win over Italy last Saturday.
Eben Etzebeth returns to the side with Ruan Nortje in the second row, while props Boan Venter and Neethling Fouche make their debuts for the four-time Rugby World Cup winners. Marnus van der Merwe is at hooker in an all-new front row. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu is back at flyhalf along with scrumhalf Grant Williams, who was outstanding against the Italians. Damian de Allende and Canan Moodie are the centre pairing.
Kurt-Lee Arendse and Edwill van der Merwe feature on the wing, with Aphelele Fassi returning to the side at fullback. Coach Rassie Erasmus has now used 46 players in three fixtures so far this season as he continues to build depth within the squad.
"We wanted to make sure that Siya is 100% fit before selecting him, so it's great to have him back in the squad, while Boan, Marnus, and Neethling have been training hard and deserve their chance," Erasmus said. "Building squad depth has been one of our pillars as a squad since 2018, and they are all undoubtedly ready to make the step up."
The Springboks have met Georgia twice before, the pool stages of the 2003 Rugby World Cup in Australia where they won 46-19 and in Pretoria in 2021 when they registered a 40-9 victory. South Africa team:
15–Aphelele Fassi, 14–Edwill van der Merwe, 13–Canan Moodie, 12–Damian de Allende, 11–Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10–Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9–Grant Williams, 8–Cobus Wiese, 7–Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6–Siya Kolisi (captain), 5–Ruan Nortje, 4–Eben Etzebeth, 3–Neethling Fouche, 2–Marnus van der Merwe, 1–Boan Venter Replacements:16–Bongi Mbonambi, 17–Thomas du Toit, 18–Vincent Koch, 19–RG Snyman, 20–Kwagga Smith, 21–Faf de Klerk, 22–Handre Pollard, 23–Damian Willemse.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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