Springboks vs All Blacks preview: Saturday 7 September

The Springboks set their sights firmly on trying to clinch the Freedom Cup for the first time since 2009 when they line up against the All Blacks in the Castle Lager Rugby Championship at DHL Stadium in Cape Town on Saturday.

This will be the 107th Test match meeting between the countries.

Springboks vs All Blacks: Stats and facts

The centre pairing of Jesse Kriel and Damian de Allende will extend their record of playing the most Test matches together in the midfield to 33 (the previous record was held by Jean de Villiers and Jaque Fourie with 29 Tests).

Handre Pollard needs nine points to overtake Morne Steyn (742 points) and move into second place on the Springbok all-time scorers’ list. Percy Montgomery leads with 893 points.

Should Malcolm Marx score a try he will move to 20 and into tenth equal place on the all-time Springbok try-scoring list with James Small. He is already the leading Springbok forward try scorer.

Cheslin Kolbe needs four points to reach 100 points in Tests for South Africa.

Eben Etzebeth moves to within one appearance of equalling Victor Matfield’s record as the most capped Springbok player (127 Tests). Etzebeth will play his 126th Test.

Willie le Roux will play his 97th Test, leaving him three appearances away from becoming the eighth Springbok to play in a century of Tests.

The total Test caps for the Springbok starting line-up is 893.

There are 387 caps in the backline, with 506 caps among the forwards. On the bench there are a further 242 caps.

The average caps per player in the backline is 55, the forwards 63, while the players on the bench average 30.

What time is kick-off?

The match will kick off after the anthems and haka which should get underway just after 17:00 on Saturday 7 September.

This match will not be broadcast on SABC and you will need a DStv subscription to get in on the action.

Teams: Springboks vs All Blacks

All Blacks match-day 23 (Test caps in brackets) 

1.    Tamaiti Williams (10) 
2.    Codie Taylor (90)  
3.    Tyrel Lomax (37)  
4.    Scott Barrett (73) (Captain) 
5.    Tupou Vaa’i (31)  
6.    Wallace Sititi (2)  
7.    Sam Cane (97)  
8.    Ardie Savea (87) (Vice Captain) 
9.    Cortez Ratima (5)  
10.  Damian McKenzie (53) 
11.  Mark Tele’a (14) 
12.  Jordie Barrett (63) (Vice Captain) 
13.  Rieko Ioane (74) 
14.  Sevu Reece (27) 
15.  Will Jordan (34)  
 

Replacements

16. Asafo Aumua (12) 
17. Ofa Tu’ungafasi (62) 
18. Fletcher Newell (19) 
19. Sam Darry (4)  
20. Luke Jacobson (21)  
21. TJ Perenara (85)  
22. Anton Lienert-Brown (76) 
23. Beauden Barrett (129)  

Springbok team to face New Zealand in Cape Town

15 – Willie le Roux (Vodacom Bulls) – 96 caps, 75 pts (15t)
14 – Canan Moodie (Vodacom Bulls) – 10 caps, 25 pts (5t)
13 – Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles) – 74 caps, 80 points (16t)
12 –Damian de Allende (Wild Knights) – 83 caps, 55 points (11t)
11 – Cheslin Kolbe (Suntory Sungoliath) – 36 caps, 96 points (15t, 3c, 5p)
10 – Handre Pollard (Leicester Tigers) – 74 caps, 734 points (7t, 99c, 162p, 5dg)
9 – Grant Williams (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 14 caps, 15 points (3t)
8 – Jasper Wiese (Urayasu D-Rocks) – 28 caps, 5 points (1t)
7 – Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz) – 82 caps, 45 points (9t)
6 – Siya Kolisi (captain, Racing 92) – 87 caps, 55 points (11t)
5 – Ruan Nortje (Vodacom Bulls) – 3 caps, 0 points
4 – Eben Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 125 caps, 30 points (6t)
3 – Frans Malherbe (DHL Stormers) – 74 caps, 5 points (1t)
2 – Bongi Mbonambi (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 73 caps, 75 points (15t)
1 – Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 34 caps, 0 points

Replacements:

16 – Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) – 70 caps, 95 points (19t)
17 – Gerhard Steenekamp (Vodacom Bulls) – 5 caps, 0 points
18 – Vincent Koch (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 55 caps, 0 points
19 – Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs) – 46 caps, 45 points (9t)
20 – Elrigh Louw (Vodacom Bulls) – 7 caps, 0 points
21 – Jaden Hendrikse (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 15 caps, 12 pts (2t, 1c)
22 – Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (DHL Stormers) – 7 caps, 49 points (14c, 4p)
23 – Lukhanyo Am (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 37 caps, 35 pts (7t)

Match info

Date: Saturday, September 7
Venue: Cape Town Stadium
Kick-off: 17.00 (15.00 GMT; 03.00 NZST Sunday, September 8)
Expected weather: Clear with a strong breeze and a high of 17C.
Referee: Matthew Carley (England)
Assistant referees: Andrew Brace (Ireland), Jordan Way (Australia)
TMO: Ian Tempest (England)

Who will win this Springboks vs All Blacks showdown?

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