JOHANNESBURG, Aug 31 (Reuters) - South Africa coach Rassie Erasmus has made a single, injury-enforced change to his match-day 23 for the third test in the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series against New Zealand at the 94,500-seater Soccer City in Johannesburg on Saturday.
The Springboks edged a brutal second test 33-26 in Cape Town to square the four-match series at 1-1, but there is no rest for his battered and bruised players as he has opted for continuity against the All Blacks.
• Cheslin Kolbe will move from winger to fullback with Damian Willemse sidelined through injury. Kurt-Lee Arendse comes into the squad to take the place of Kolbe in the number 14 jersey.
• Erasmus has gone with the front row he initially picked to start in Cape Town with hooker Malcolm Marx, and props Ox Nche and Wilco Louw. They were switched just before kickoff with the front row that was on the bench, who are now back among the replacements - hooker Deon Fourie, and props Gerhard Steenekamp and Thomas du Toit.
• Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu will again start at flyhalf with Manie Libbok on the bench and no Handre Pollard due to a calf problem.
• Captain Siya Kolisi starts following his return from a hamstring injury and forms a back row with Pieter-Steph du Toit and number eight Jasper Wiese.
• Lock Eben Etzebeth will extend his record as the most capped Springbok player to 145 appearances.
• “It was always our plan to have a little more continuity in player combinations for this series and we thought that the players who did the job for us last week really showed composure and did well to stick to the plan and what we wanted to achieve last week,” said Erasmus.
South Africa team: 15-Cheslin Kolbe, 14-Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13-Jesse Kriel, 12-Damian de Allende, 11-Ethan Hooker, 10-Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9-Cobus Reinach, 8-Jasper Wiese, 7-Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6-Siya Kolisi (captain), 5-Ruan Nortje, 4-Eben Etzebeth, 3-Wilco Louw, 2-Malcolm Marx, 1-Ox Nche
Replacements: 16-Deon Fourie, 17-Gerhard Steenekamp, 18-Thomas du Toit, 19-Lood de Jager, 20-Andre Esterhuizen, 21-Cameron Hanekom, 22-Morne van den Berg, 23-Manie Libbok.
(Reporting by Nick Said, editing by Ed Osmond)
