Erasmus shuffles Springboks front row less than an hour before Cape Town Test

Rassie Erasmus sprung a final surprise on the All Blacks by swapping his entire front row less than an hour before the second Test of the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series kicked off in Cape Town, with Gerhard Steenekamp, Deon Fourie and Thomas du Toit promoted to the starting XV in place of Ox Nche, Malcolm Marx and Wilco Louw.

The late change was the fourth team update Erasmus had made across the week, capping a turbulent build-up that saw the Springboks’ matchday squad reshaped by injury, fitness scares and late recoveries.

Siya Kolisi had initially been named alongside Paul de Villiers amid uncertainty over the captain’s fitness. Once Kolisi was cleared to play, De Villiers was removed from the squad entirely. A training-ground injury to veteran flyhalf Handré Pollard then forced another reshuffle, with Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu promoted to the No.10 jersey and Manie Libbok added to the bench.

Cheslin Kolbe’s late fitness clearance on the eve of the Test cost Kurt-Lee Arendse his starting berth on the right wing, with Kolbe slotting straight back into the side.

The confirmed Springboks XV that took the field lists Damian Willemse at fullback, Kolbe and Ethan Hooker on the wings, Jesse Kriel and Damian de Allende in midfield, Feinberg-Mngomezulu at fly-half and Cobus Reinach at scrum-half. Eben Etzebeth and Ruan Nortje form the lock partnership, with Kolisi, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Jasper Wiese completing the back row.

Nche, Marx and Louw — originally pencilled in to start — will now carry the impact-bench role, joined in the reserves by Lood de Jager, Andre Esterhuizen, Cameron Hanekom, Morne van den Berg and Libbok.

The front-row swap adds a tactical wrinkle to a match already loaded with significance, with the Springboks looking to level the two-Test series after the All Blacks took the opener.