Rugby-Springboks make 13 changes for Australia test in Perth


Rugby Union - Rugby World Cup 2023 - Pool B - South Africa v Tonga - Orange Velodrome, Marseille, France - October 1, 2023 South Africa's Andre Esterhuizen in action REUTERS/Benoit Tessier

Sept 22 (Reuters) - South Africa ⁠have made 13 changes to their starting XV for ⁠the one-off test against Australia in Perth on Sunday, including ‌a return to flyhalf for double World Cup winner Handre Pollard.

The team will be captained by centre Andre Esterhuizen and also sees a return for scrumhalf ​Herschel Jantjies.

• Esterhuizen, who becomes the ⁠68th Springbok captain, will partner ⁠Canan Moodie at centre, with wings Ethan Hooker and Edwill van ⁠der ‌Merwe and fullback Aphelele Fassi making up the back three.

• Johan Grobbelaar starts at hooker with props Jan-Hendrik ⁠Wessels and Zachary Porthen either side.

• Eben Etzebeth, ​who extends his ‌Springbok record number of caps to 147 tests, will be ⁠in the ​second row with Franco Mostert.

• Marco van Staden starts at number eight with Paul de Villiers and Elrigh Louw the two flankers.

• South ⁠Africa beat New Zealand 3-1 in the ​recent Rugby's Greatest Rivalry series.

• "Australia poses a completely different threat to New Zealand in the way they play, so we believe these combinations ⁠would be best suited for the challenge that we will face against them," coach Rassie Erasmus said. Team: 15-Aphelele Fassi, 14-Edwill van der Merwe, 13-Canan Moodie, 12-Andre Esterhuizen (captain), 11-Ethan Hooker, 10-Handre Pollard, ​9-Herschel Jantjies, 8-Marco van Staden, 7-Elrigh Louw, ⁠6- Paul de Villiers, 5-Franco Mostert, 4-Eben Etzebeth, 3-Zachary Porthen, 2-Johan ​Grobbelaar, 1- Jan-Hendrik Wessels Replacements: 16-Malcolm ‌Marx, 17-Ox Nche, 18-Wilco Louw, 19-Lood ​de Jager, 20-Jasper Wiese, 21-Morne van den Berg, 22-Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 23-Quan Horn.

(Reporting by Nick Said; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne)

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