Springboks head coach Rassie Erasmus has made wholesale changes to his team that defeated the Wallabies 33-7 in Brisbane last weekend.

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Naming a team that had 10 changes for the upcoming rematch with the Wallabies in Perth, Erasmus spoke of his team’s long-term planning.

“We made it clear from the outset this season that one of our main goals is to build squad depth with an eye on the next Rugby World Cup here in Australia, and we feel there is no better way to test some of the younger players and assess where we are as a group against a top-Tier nation, especially away from home, in this match,” Erasmus said.

“We have a group of about 45 players that are part of our wider squad this season, and we’ve seen what most of these players can do. We have full faith in the younger generation of players coming through, and we feel this is the right time to Test them against an Australian outfit that will be desperate to bounce back strongly from last weekend.”

Among the new faces, scrumhalf Morne van den Berg and lock Ruan Nortje both will start for the first time in the green and gold.

Elsewhere, captain Siya Kolisi is rotated for the clash, with Marco van Staden starting at six and secondrow Salmaan Moerat captaining the side.

Of the players who featured in Brisbane just  Cheslin Kolbe (wing), Jesse Kriel (centre), Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (fly-half), Elrigh Louw (No. 8) and Pieter-Steph du Toit, who moves from lock to flanker) retain their starting places.

Discussing the rotation of his squad, Erasmus stressed the need for younger players to get game time while ensuring momentum is kept for the remainder of the Championship.

“All of the younger players made a strong impression against Portugal and in the other tests in which they received an opportunity to showcase their skills, and we believe that their hunger to play, combined with their individual skills will be a fantastic driving force for them to build on the result in Brisbane," he said. “We have a big squad, and it’s important to balance some players’ workload, while at the same time, bringing a few young players into the mix, and this squad allows us to do both.

“This also means that every player in this traveling squad will have an opportunity to play. All of the players who have been excluded from the squad have been regulars this season, and we feel we’ll benefit in different ways by resting them this week.”

In total, 14 players were retained from the Brisbane matchday 23, namely Moerat, Van Staden, Pieter-Steph Du Toit, Louw, Kolbe, Kriel, Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Marx, Nche, Koch, Etzebeth, Smith, Williams and Pollard.

Erasmus expected a massive onslaught from the Wallabies on Saturday.

“They will be desperate to come back strongly from last week’s defeat, and I have no doubt that Joe Schmidt (Australian head coach) will select a team that is fired up and who will give everything to turn things around and get their campaign back on track," Erasmus said. “They are a proud nation, and they’ll be highly motivated to continue their impressive home win record against us in Australia, so we’re fully aware of the challenge.

“But we’re also determined to continue building on the changes we’ve made since the end of the 2022 season (in which the Boks have only suffered three defeats in 20 matches), and we have a determined and enthusiastic group of players who also have a lot to play for.

“This is a massive match for us because if we can build on last week, it will give us a good chance to be in the mix for the title which we last won in 2019.”

Springbok Team To Face Australia In Perth:

15 – Aphelele Fassi (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 5 caps, 10 points (2t)

14 – Cheslin Kolbe (Suntory Sungoliath) – 34 caps, 96 points (15t, 3c, 5p)

13 – Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles) – 72 caps, 80 points (16t)

12 – Lukhanyo Am (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 36 caps, 35 pts (7t)

11 – Makazole Mapimpi (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 43 caps, 150 points (30t)

10 – Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (DHL Stormers) – 5 caps, 25 points (11c, 1p)

9 – Morne van den Berg (Emirates Lions) – 1 cap, O points

8 – Elrigh Louw (Vodacom Bulls) – 5 caps, 0 points

7 – Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz) – 80 caps, 45 points (9t)

6 – Marco van Staden (Vodacom Bulls) – 21 caps, 0 pts

5 – Ruan Nortje (Vodacom Bulls) – 1 cap, 0 points

4 – Salmaan Moerat (captain, DHL Stormers) – 8 caps, 0 points

3 – Thomas du Toit (Bath) – 19 caps, 0 pts

2 – Johan Grobbelaar (Vodacom Bulls) – 1 cap, 0 points

1 – Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Vodacom Bulls) – 1 cap, 5 points (1t)

Replacements:

16 – Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) – 68 caps, 85 points (17t)

17 – Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 32 caps, 0 pts

18 – Vincent Koch (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 53 caps, 0 points

19 – Eben Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 123 caps, 30 points (6t)

20 – Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs) – 44 caps, 40 pts (8t)

21 – Grant Williams (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 12 caps, 10 points (2t)

22 – Manie Libbok (DHL Stormers) – 15 caps, 91 pts (1t, 28c, 10p)

23 – Handré Pollard (Leicester Tigers) – 72 caps, 732 points (7t, 98c, 162p, 5dg)

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