Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel will become the most-capped Springbok centre pairing of all time when they tackle Ireland this weekend in Durban.
Expecting a backlash from Ireland after klapping them 27-20 in the first Test, coach Rassie Erasmus yesterday stuck to his big guns by picking an unchanged side for Saturday’s Kings Park clash.
Two of Erasmus’ main manne De Allende and Kriel will make Bok history when they play together in a 30th Test as a midfield pairing – breaking the previous record held by Stormers greats Jean de Villiers and Jaque Fourie.
The midfield ysters will, however, have to leave the record-breaking celebrations for after Saturday’s second Test as Erasmus wants a clinical performance against a tough Irish team.
The coach says: “It’s always tough facing Ireland.
“They’re a quality team, they are ranked second in the world, and as we saw last week, they never stop fighting, so we know the magnitude of the challenge that awaits us this weekend.”
Erasmus is also not falling for claims that Ireland will be swakker after losing hooker Dan Sheehan (knee) and scrumhalf Craig Casey (concussion) to injury.
Instead, he believes they will come out stronger, saying: “We have no doubt they’ll come out even stronger... but we also identified the areas of the game that we need to improve on and it’s vital for us to build on our performance in our quest to win both matches”.
Unchanged #Springboks team for Saturday's second Test against Ireland, and it will be a special occasion for De Allende, Kriel and Malherbe - more here: https://t.co/C3z6ZMfXXv 🫡#ForeverGreenForeverGold pic.twitter.com/YYp060RyEq
— Springboks (@Springboks) July 9, 2024
Springboks: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Kwagga Smith, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche. Replacements: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Salmaan Moerat, 20 RG Snyman, 21 Marco van Staden, 22 Grant Williams, 23 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.