Vincent Koch earns 50th cap as Rassie Erasmus names South Africa team to play Wales
Vincent Koch.
WORLD CUP WINNING prop Vincent Koch will earn his 50th Test cap on Saturday when the Springboks take on Wales at Twickenham in their first international since lifting the Webb Ellis Cup in France last October.
Ireland travel to South Africa to play test on 6 July in Pretoria and 13 July in Durban.
Edwill van der Merwe (wing) and Jordan Hendrikse (fly-half) are the two uncapped players named in the team to play Wales, while Ben-Jason Dixon (lock) and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (utility back) are the two new faces on the bench.
A total of 10 players in the matchday squad featured in the World Cup final, while 16 players were members of the World Cup squad.
Rassie Erasmus welcomes back experienced hooker Malcolm Marx, who last played for South Africa in their opening World Cup encounter against Scotland before suffering a knee injury at training which ruled him out of further tournament action.
Those outside of the matchday squad include Manie Libbok (fly-half), RG Snyman (lock) – both RWC winners – Neethling Fouche (prop), Phepsi Buthelezi (loose forward), Ethan Hooker (centre), Quan Horn (fullback), and Andre-Hugo Venter (hooker).
Erasmus has opted for a 5:3 split in favour of the forwards on the replacements bench.
“This is an exciting playing squad and travelling group, and we are looking forward to seeing how the uncapped players step up at top international level and how we execute what we’ve been working on at training in the last few days and at the alignment camps,” said Erasmus.
“The likes of Edwill, Jordan, Ben-Jason, and Sacha have really impressed us at training, and we believe they have what it takes to make their presence felt against a quality team such as Wales.”
Meanwhile, Wales have been dealt a major injury blow with flanker Jac Morgan ruled out of Saturday’s Test match and the summer tour to Australia.
Morgan, who was Wales’ World Cup co-captain with Dewi Lake last year, missed this season’s Six Nations because of a knee injury.
But he now has a hamstring problem that he suffered during Ospreys’ United Rugby Championship quarter-final defeat against Munster.
And the Welsh Rugby Union announced that Morgan has been released from the squad, meaning he misses the Springboks encounter and Tests in Australia on July 6 and 13.
Hooker Lake, who also sat out the Six Nations due to injury, will be captain against South Africa at Twickenham, with James Botham wearing the number seven shirt and lining up in a back-row that also includes Taine Plumtree and Aaron Wainwright.
Cardiff scrum-half Ellis Bevan is handed a Test debut, while Liam Williams makes a first Wales appearance since the 2023 World Cup.
Williams, who missed this season’s Six Nations due to club commitments in Japan, returns alongside back-three colleagues Cameron Winnett and Rio Dyer.
Wales are without their England-based players – the likes of Nick Tompkins, Dafydd Jenkins and Tommy Reffell – because the game falls outside World Rugby’s summer Test window and means they cannot be considered for selection.
Wales have been badly hit in the second-row department, with Six Nations skipper Jenkins and his Exeter colleague Christ Tshiunza both unavailable, Will Rowlands being rested and Adam Beard injured.
Matthew Screech and Ben Carter are the locks selected to start against the world champions. Screech, 31, made his only previous Wales appearance as a replacement against Argentina in 2021, while Carter was last involved during the World Cup warm-up Tests almost a year ago.
There are three uncapped players on the bench, meanwhile, in Ospreys forward James Ratti, Scarlets centre Eddie James and Cardiff back Jacob Beetham.
Additional reporting, PA.
15. Aphelele Fassi
Advertisement
14. Edwill van der Merwe
13. Jesse Kriel
12. Andre Esterhuizen
11. Makazole Mapimpi
10. Jordan Hendrikse
9. Faf de Klerk
1. Ox Nche
2. Malcolm Marx
3. Vincent Koch
4. Eben Etzebeth
5. Franco Mostert
6. Kwagga Smith
7. Pieter-Steph du Toit (captain)
8. Evan Roos
Replacements:
16. Bongi Mbonambi
17. Ntuthuko Mchunu
18. Frans Malherbe
19. Salmaan Moerat
20. Ben-Jason Dixon
21. Grant Williams
22. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu
23. Damian de Allende