Eben Etzebeth cleared for All Blacks Test as Boks release four players

Springbok lock Eben Etzebeth has been cleared to face the All Blacks in their crucial Rugby Championship clash at Ellis Park on Saturday after completing all the training sessions this week, and has been drafted onto the replacements bench.

Coach Rassie Erasmus on Wednesday also released four players — Steven Kitshoff, flyhalf Manie Libbok and wings Canan Moodie and Makazole Mapimpi — to their Currie Cup teams to get some valuable game time this weekend.  

Etzebeth, who was initially excluded from the Boks’ match-23 for the first of two Tests against their southern hemisphere arch-rivals due to an injury concern earlier in the week, replaces Marco van Staden on the bench. That offers the team specialist lock cover for the starting combination of Pieter-Steph du Toit and Ruan Nortje.

Should he get game time, Etzebeth will be fielded in his 125th Test in the green and gold jersey. This will see him leapfrog Bryan Habana as the second most-capped Springbok and take one step closer to Victor Matfield’s Springbok Test record of 127 caps.

“Our selection policy has always been that if a player does not train on a Monday he will not play on Saturday, but Eben has made it through training pain-free all week, so we had to make the tough call to name him in the squad at the expense of Marco,” Erasmus said.

“There were backup options for us at lock in the initial squad, but with Eben on the bench, it means we have another specialist in that position. We’re blessed to have an expanded squad of about 45 players who have all bought into our plans, and who understand what’s best for the team. And it’s admirable how Marco accepted the news. It shows the quality of the player and person he is.”

Revised Springbok team to face New Zealand at Ellis Park:

15 — Aphelele Fassi (Sharks) — 6 caps, 15 points (3t)

14 — Cheslin Kolbe (Suntory Sungoliath) — 35 caps, 96 points (15t, 3c, 5p)

13 — Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles) — 73 caps, 80 points (16t)

12 — Damian de Allende (Wild Knights) — 82 caps, 55 points (11t)

11 — Kurt-Lee Arendse (Bulls) — 19 caps, 85 points (17t)

10 — Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (Stormers) — 6 caps, 33 points (12c, 3p)

9 — Cobus Reinach (Montpellier) — 34 caps, 65 points (13t)

8 — Jasper Wiese (Urayasu D-Rocks) — 27 caps, 5 points (1t)

7 — Ben-Jason Dixon (Stormers) — 3 caps, 5 points (1t)

6 — Siya Kolisi (captain, Racing 92) — 86 caps, 55 points (11t)

5 — Ruan Nortje (Bulls) — 2 caps, 0 points

4 — Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz) — 81 caps, 45 points (9t)

3 — Frans Malherbe (Stormers) — 73 caps, 5 points (1t)

2 — Bongi Mbonambi (Sharks) — 72 caps, 70 points (14t)

1 — Ox Nche (Sharks) — 33 caps, 0 points

Replacements:

16 — Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) — 69 caps, 95 points (19t)

17 — Gerhard Steenekamp (Bulls) — 4 caps, 0 points

18 — Vincent Koch (Sharks) — 54 caps, 0 points

19 — Eben Etzebeth (Sharks) — 124 caps, 30 points (6t)

20 — Elrigh Louw (Bulls) — 6 caps, 0 points

21 — Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs) — 45 caps, 40 points (8t)

22 — Grant Williams (Sharks) — 13 caps, 10 points (2t)

23 — Handré Pollard (Leicester Tigers) — 73 caps, 734 points (7t, 99c, 162p, 5dg)

SA Rugby