So is this the Springboks line-up for ‘big’ World Cup games?

On Tuesday, the Springboks unveiled the side to face Wales in a World Cup warm up game on Saturday, with coach Jacques Nienaber admitting that the time for experimenting was over.

With just two more games to go until the World Cup campaign begins, it’s clear that the Springboks are keen to start allowing key first-choice combinations some time to gel.

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By and large, this means that the starting line-up selected for the Wales match is also how you can expect the Springboks to line up at the World Cup, barring maybe three positions.

Although Canan Moodie has been selected on the wing this week, it’s likely that Kurt-Lee Arendse will be one of the starting wings at the ‘big’ games in France, while Faf de Klerk is expected to reclaim the No 9 jersey.

Eben Etzebeth will of course also return as the No 4 lock, but otherwise it does seem that the Springboks have settled on their World Cup starting line-up.

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SPRINGBOKS TEAM TO FACE WALES IN CARDIFF:

15 – Willie le Roux (Vodacom Bulls) – 86 caps, 65 pts (13T)
14 – Canan Moodie (Vodacom Bulls) – 6 caps, 10 pts (2T)
13 – Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles) – 61 caps, 60 pts (12T)
12 – Damian de Allende (Panasonic Wild Knights) – 72 caps, 50 pts (10T)
11 – Cheslin Kolbe (Suntory Sungoliath) – 25 caps, 81 pts (12T, 3C, 5P)
10 – Manie Libbok (DHL Stormers) – 7 caps, 45 pts (1T, 11C, 6P)
9 – Jaden Hendrikse (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 12 caps, 12 pts (2T, 1C)

8 – Jasper Wiese (Leicester) – 22 caps, 5 pts (1T)
7 – Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz) – 69 caps, 30 pts (6T)
6 – Siya Kolisi (captain – Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 75 caps, 45 pts (9T)
5 – RG Snyman (Munster) – 26 caps, 5 pts (1T)
4 – Jean Kleyn (Munster) – 2 caps, 0 pts (Ireland 5 caps)
3 – Frans Malherbe (DHL Stormers) – 61 caps, 5 pts (1T)
2 – Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) – 61 caps, 75 pts (15T)
1 – Steven Kitshoff (Ulster) – 74 caps, 10 pts (T)

Replacements:
16 – Bongi Mbonambi (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 60 caps, 60 pts (12T)
17 – Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 19 caps, 0 pts
18 – Vincent Koch (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 45 caps, 0 pts
19 – Franco Mostert (Honda Heat) – 65 caps, 15 pts (3T)
20 – Marco van Staden (Vodacom Bulls) – 12 caps, 0 pts
21 – Duane Vermeulen (SA Rugby) – 68 caps, 15 pts (3T)
22 – Grant Williams (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 4 caps, 0 pts
23 – Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers) – 31 caps, 36 pts 36 (2T, 4C, 4P, 2D)

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RECORD AGAINST WALES

Played 40; Won 32; Lost 7; Drawn 1; Points for: 1 019; Points against; 642; Tries scored: 118; Tries conceded: 53; Highest score: 96-13; Biggest win: 83 points. Win % 80%.

Milestones:

• Manie Libbok requires five more points to reach 50 Test points.
• Damian Willemse is only 14 points short of earning 50 points for the Springboks.
• Siya Kolisi needs to score one more try to reach 10 Test tries and 50 points.
• The Munster duo of Jean Kleyn and RG Snyman will start as a combination for the Springboks for the first time against Wales.

Miscellaneous:

• The total Test caps for the Springbok starting line-up is 664.
• There are 269 caps in the backline, with 395 caps among the forwards. On the bench there are a further 304 caps.
• The average caps per player in the backline is 38, the forwards 49, while the players on the bench average 38.

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