Rassie pulls best mind games stunt to date with Springboks side vs England

Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus is renowned for his mad scientist antics and mind games. He’s pulled another brilliant one out of the hat.

Boks announce squad to face England at Twickenham

• 15 – Aphelele Fassi (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 9 caps, 30 points (6t)
• 14 – Cheslin Kolbe (Suntory Sungoliath) – 38 caps, 101 points (16t, 3c, 5p)
• 13 – Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles) – 77 caps, 90 points (18t)
• 12 – Damian de Allende (Wild Knights) – 85 caps, 55 points (11t)
• 11 – Kurt-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls) – 22 caps, 85 points (17t)
• 10 – Manie Libbok (DHL Stormers) – 18 caps, 94 pts (1t, 28c, 11p)
• 9 – Grant Williams (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 16 caps, 15 points (3t)
• 8 – Jasper Wiese (Urayasu D-Rocks) – 32 caps, 10 points (2t)
• 7 – Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz) – 85 caps, 55 points (11t)
• 6 – Siya Kolisi (captain, Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 90 caps, 60 points (12t)
• 5 – RG Snyman (Leinster) – 38 caps, 10 points (2t)
• 4 – Eben Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 129 caps, 30 points (6t)
• 3 – Wilco Louw (Vodacom Bulls) – 14 caps, 0 points
• 2 – Bongi Mbonambi (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 76 caps, 75 points (15t)
• 1 – Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 38 caps, 0 points

Replacements:

• 16 – Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) – 74 caps, 105 points (21t)
• 17 – Gerhard Steenekamp (Vodacom Bulls) – 9 caps, 0 points
• 18 – Vincent Koch (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 59 caps, 0 points
• 19 – Elrigh Louw (Vodacom Bulls) – 11 caps, 0 points
• 20 – Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs) – 50 caps, 45 points (9t)
• 21 – Cobus Reinach (Montpellier) – 37 caps, 70 pts (14t)
• 22 – Handre Pollard (Leicester Tigers) – 78 caps, 767 points (7t, 108c, 167p, 5dg)
• 23 – Lukhanyo Am (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 41 caps, 35 pts (7t)

Le Roux is not included against the 2003 World Champions

Plenty of pre-match talk in the English coaching team has revolved around how Willie le Roux is the glue holding the Springboks together. The 35-year-old has 98 caps for the Springboks but isn’t in the 23-man group to face England. Coach Rassie Erasmus opted for a 5/3 split on his bench with Lukhanyo Am, Handre Pollard and Cobus Reinach the substitute backline options. It’s thought that the Boks already have enough versatility in their starting XV to cover the fullback position. There’s also plenty of flair and unpredictability.

Rassie explains 5/3 Springboks bench split

Via Mariette Adams:

Rassie Erasmus says he opted for a traditional 5/3 Springbok bench split because it is the best way to counter the threats posed by a desperate England team.

Erasmus made a whopping 12 personnel changes to his Springbok lineup for their crunch clash against Steve Borthwick’s England at Twickenham, the home of rugby.

How will the world champions fare on Saturday against England at Twickenham?

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