ADVERTISEMENT

Springboks Du Toit and Koch to start against All Blacks

Pieter-Steph Du Toit and Vincent Koch have been named in the South Africa team for Saturday's Rugby Championship clash against New Zealand in Christchurch.

___5158328___https:______static.pulse.com.gh___webservice___escenic___binary___5158328___2016___9___15___4___pieter-steph-du-toit-cropped_scdjezttscnw1rcrziujhabzd_2

Towering lock Du Toit replaces Lood De Jager, who misses out after suffering severe bruising to his knee in the defeat against Australia in Brisbane last weekend.

Prop Koch also comes into the side at the expense of Lourens Adriaanse, who has been named among the replacements for the encounter with the world champions at AMI Stadium.

Uncapped hooker Malcolm Marx is included among the replacements for the first time, with Willem Alberts getting the nod ahead of Lionel Mapoe and Damian De Allende also included in the 23.

Francois Louw will play his 50th Test for the Springboks against an All Blacks side aiming to make it four wins out of four.

ADVERTISEMENT

Springboks head coach Allister Coetzee said: "Malcolm has huge potential and we have a plan for him and Bongi Mbonambi because of Adriaan's retirement at the end of the season.

"Malcolm now gets a chance on the reserve bench and it would be great to see him in action, should he get the chance to go onto the park.

"I have decided on a six-two split on the bench again as I believe Willem and Jaco [Kriel] will each make a big impact when they enter the field of play and I decided to swap Damian with Lionel to ensure we have cover for the inside centre position."

South Africa XV in full: Johan Goosen, Bryan Habana, Jesse Kriel, Juan De Jongh, Francois Hougaard, Elton Jantjies, Faf De Klerk; Tendai Mtawarira, Adriaan Strauss, Vincent Koch, Eben Etzebeth, Pieter-Steph Du Toit, Francois Louw, Oupa Mohoje, Warren Whiteley.

Replacements: Malcolm Marx, Steven Kitshoff, Lourens Adriaanse, Franco Mostert, Willem Alberts, Jaco Kriel, Morne Steyn, Damian De Allende.

JOIN OUR PULSE COMMUNITY!

Unblock notifications in browser settings.
ADVERTISEMENT

Eyewitness? Submit your stories now via social or:

Email: eyewitness@pulse.com.gh

ADVERTISEMENT