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Rassie admits Springboks could make late team change The Springboks are contending with a few injury worries, but there is hope for some good news later this week. The Springboks’ most concerning injury cloud currently hangs over captain Siya Kolisi, who is desperately hoping to successfully get through training this week as he looks to return to action after battling with a hamstring strain. Kolisi has been bracketed alongside Paul de Villiers, but if he is cleared to play, he will wear the No 6 jersey and reclaim the captaincy from Pieter-Steph du Toit. After making the team announcement for this Saturday’s second Test against the All Blacks, Rassie Erasmus sung the praises of Kolisi. “Siya has got some strengths, one of them being the attacking breakdown. He’s really good at sorting that out for us, which was the area we struggled with (at Ellis Park). “There were lots of times that we played badly, not because they did anything illegal, but we couldn’t get the ball away out of the breakdown when we were in really good attacking positions. Siya’s really good at that. “And then, he’s really good at getting us from defence – him and Pieter-Steph together, we call it ‘the gates’ – they’re well organised in the defensive sets in the gates. That was definitely something which we lacked.” Springboks may consider another late change Loose forward Ben-Jason Dixon, scrumhalf Grant Williams and utility back Canan Moodie are also on the injured list along with star wing Cheslin Kolbe. Erasmus admitted that they could give consideration to including Kolbe this week if he recovers well, but that seems unlikely, and would also go against the Springboks’ policy of only considering players if they are fit at the start of the week. “It might be a late change with Cheslin. If he really recovers well, we might make a change there, but at this stage I don’t think it will be,” Erasmus said. “Unfortunately Canan pulled a hamstring and Grant picked up an ankle injury (in the first Test),” Erasmus added. “Ben-Jason has some concussion symptoms that he picked up last week.” Kick off this Saturday is at 17:10. Miscellaneous stats and facts - Pieter-Steph du Toit will become the 11th player in Springbok history to feature in 100 Tests on Saturday after making his international debut against Wales in 2013. He will also be the second player in as many weeks to achieve this significant milestone after Damian de Allende earned his 100th last weekend. - Prop Ox Nche will join the select club of players who have played 50 Tests. - Eben Etzebeth will extend his record as the most capped Springbok player of all time to 144 caps. - Should he take the field, Deon Fourie will become the oldest Springbok player to play in a Test match at 39 years old, surpassing Victor Matfield and Schalk Brits who were 38 years old in their last Test matches. - This game will mark Fourie’s first game back since the RWC final in France, which also happened to be against the All Blacks, with the Boks winning the match 12-11 to lift the trophy. - The last time the Springboks met the All Blacks in Cape Town was in the Rugby Championship in 2024, ith the Boks winning the match 18-12. - The Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series marks the first time since 1996 that the All Blacks have embarked on a traditional rugby tour to South Africa. - The Springboks have won five of the last seven matches between the teams dating back to August 2023. - With Kolisi starting, the total Test caps in the Springbok starting line-up is 1012 – the highest ever fielded by South Africa. There are 428 caps in the backline, with 584 caps among the forwards. On the bench, there are a further 204 caps. - The average caps per player in the backline is 61, the forwards 73, while the players on the bench average 26.