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Erasmus delays Springboks team naming with key players in doubt

The New Zealand Herald · unknown author · 2026-08-17T18:03:45+00:00 · nguồn gốc

The first test appearance of the season for injury-prone Kolisi lasted only 25 minutes in Argentina this month before a hamstring injury forced him off. Should the duo be unavailable, Paul de Villiers could replace Kolisi with Gerhard Steenekamp stepping in for Nche. Erasmus said there were no other injury issues ahead of the eagerly-awaited clash between the two nations who have won seven of the 10 Rugby World Cup tournaments. The Springboks head coach traditionally names his matchday 23 on Mondays, whereas other countries wait until Thursdays. But Erasmus said that this week he will delay naming his team until Thursday, the same day New Zealand head coach Dave Rennie is set to announce his starting XV. “We know this one will be tough and the less time they have to prepare for our team, the better,” he said. Erasmus also dismissed reports that South Africa would try to slow down the test to upset New Zealand, who have played high-tempo, ball-in-hand rugby in three tour wins over franchises. “If you go look at our last two games against New Zealand, in Auckland and Wellington last year, were those two games slow?” asked Erasmus. “We think there is a certain way to win World Cups, which is a grind [slower game style]. “So, we have tried to find a balance between that and a quicker style. It is a system that we can fall back on in clutch situations. “Since [attack coach] Tony Brown has been with us we feel we have been attacking all right and not too badly.” Listen to Elliott Smith’s live commentary on Newstalk ZB Sport and iHeartRadio, or join the Alternative Commentary Collective on iHeartRadio and Radio Hauraki.