De Bruin hands Webb starting berth as Springbok Women make one change for USA rematch

Eloise Webb earns a starting role at full-back as the Springbok Women make a single change to the XV that defeated the USA Women’s Eagles 34-21 at Ellis Park last Saturday, with head coach Swys de Bruin naming his side for the second Test at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria.

Webb, 30, came off the bench in the first Test and will win her 22nd cap in place of Byrhandré Dolf, who de Bruin says has been rested. “Dolf needed the rest and Eloise is more than capable playing in the spine, so she will slot in seamlessly,” the head coach said.

While the starting lineup is largely unchanged, there are five alterations on the bench. Maceala Samboya — who has not featured in XVs rugby since South Africa’s quarter-final exit against the Black Ferns at Women’s Rugby World Cup 2025 — comes in to cover full-back among the replacements. Lerato Makua, Anacadia Minnaar, Nomsa Mokwai and Nombuyekezo Mdliki are also introduced to the matchday 23.

“We wanted to give as many players in our group of 30 a run in this series, hence some changes on the bench,” de Bruin explained. “We were looking inward at what we want to achieve on the weekend when we selected the squad.”

The Springboks go into the match as favourites after a comfortable first-Test victory, but captain Babalwa Latsha was quick to caution against complacency. “We were happy with a lot of things that went well at Ellis Park, but we cannot fool ourselves thinking that will just flow over to Loftus,” she said. “We will have to be at our very best if we want a repeat performance. The USA is a very good team — they showed that in the way they carved us up in that second half.”

USA head coach Jack Hanratty has responded with seven changes to his starting XV for the Pretoria clash, including the introduction of Kristin Bitter, Olivia Ortiz and Hann Humphreys. The second Test precedes South Africa’s upcoming Nations Championship fixture against Scotland.