Pieter-Steph du Toit and Ox Nche are set to reach major career milestones when the Springboks face New Zealand in the second Test of the Castle Double Malt Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series at DHL Stadium in Cape Town on Saturday.
Du Toit will become the 11th player in Springbok history to earn 100 Test caps, while Nche is set to reach 50 appearances for South Africa.
Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus has named a largely unchanged starting XV following last weekend’s defeat to the All Blacks in Johannesburg.
Siya Kolisi has been bracketed with Paul de Villiers at flank, with Kolisi expected to start if he comes through training comfortably this week. Handre Pollard and Cobus Reinach will form the halfback pairing, while Ethan Hooker replaces Cheslin Kolbe on the wing after Kolbe picked up a niggle in the first Test.
Should Kolisi start, Du Toit will retain the captaincy alongside Jasper Wiese in the loose trio. Hooker’s inclusion also sees Kurt-Lee Arendse switch to right wing, joining Damian Willemse and the backline in a reshuffled back three.
With Kolisi in the starting XV, the Springboks will field their most experienced starting team ever, with a combined 1,012 Test caps.
The replacements include veteran forward Deon Fourie, who could become the oldest Springbok to play in a Test at 39, as well as Gerhard Steenekamp, Thomas du Toit, Lood de Jager, Andre Esterhuizen, Cameron Hanekom, Morne van den Berg and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
Fourie has not played for the Springboks since the 2023 Rugby World Cup final, when South Africa defeated New Zealand 12-11 in France.
Erasmus said the team had identified the areas that needed improvement after last weekend’s loss and were determined to respond in Cape Town.
We know what we have to do to bounce back strongly this week,” said Erasmus. “We have regrouped and identified the areas of our game we need to fix, so we are ready and excited for the match in Cape Town.”
The coach also praised Du Toit and Nche ahead of their respective milestones.
Pieter-Steph and Ox have been pillars of strength for us on and off the field, and they both deserve these accolades,” said Erasmus.
“It is a remarkable achievement to play 100 Test matches, and for Pieter-Steph to deliver week in and week out the way he has over the years is incredible.”
Erasmus added that Nche had also grown into an important player and team-mate.
We are equally proud of Ox for the player and team man he has grown into, and to see him reach 50 Test caps is fantastic.”
The Springboks will also be looking to improve their execution after creating several scoring opportunities in Johannesburg but failing to convert them into points.
The main thing that let us down was that we created so many chances, but mistakes at crucial times cost us,” said Erasmus.
“We’ll put in a lot of work this week to ensure that we are sharp in that regard this weekend because if we had used even some of those chances, the result could have been completely different.”
The Springboks have won five of their last seven matches against the All Blacks dating back to August 2023 and will be seeking a response when the teams meet in Cape Town.
The Test kicks off at 17:10 on Saturday and will be broadcast live on SuperSport.