‘Could be favourites for the RWC with that outfit’: England icon’s Bok claim
After Jacques Nienaber unveiled the South Africa team that will take on the All Blacks at Mt Smart Stadium on Saturday in the Rugby Championship, former England fly-half Andy Goode has said that they could be favourites for the World Cup later this year.
Nienaber has rung the changes from the team that smashed Australia in Pretoria last Saturday, with ten new players coming into the starting XV. After looking at that side, which includes the return of some frontline players like Eben Etzebeth as captain, Lood de Jager and Cheslin Kolbe, Goode described them as a “unit of a team and bench” on Twitter. This was also ignoring the fact that hat-trick scorer last week Kurt-Lee Arendse did not even make the matchday squad.
Good wrote: “Oh my Springboks! What a unit of a team and bench! Could be favourites for the Rugby World Cup with that outfit! Eddie Jones will be happy he didn’t face this bunch otherwise he could have taken 80 points last Saturday!”
Oh my @Springboks! What a unit of a team and bench! Could be favourites for the @rugbyworldcup with that outfit! Eddie Jones will be happy he didn’t face this bunch otherwise he could have taken 80 points last Saturday! 😂 pic.twitter.com/U5OC8LSfYb
— Andy Goode (@AndyGoode10) July 11, 2023
Springbok team to face New Zealand:
15 – Willie le Roux (Vodacom Bulls) – 84 caps, 65 pts (13t)
14 – Cheslin Kolbe (Suntory Sungoliath) – 23 caps, 74pts (11t, 2c, 5p)
13 – Lukhanyo Am (Cell C Sharks) – 32 caps, 30 pts (6t)
12 – Damian de Allende (Panasonic Wild Knights) – 70 Tests, 45pts (9t)
11 – Makazole Mapimpi (Cell C Sharks) – 36 caps, 110pts (22t)
10 – Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers) – 28 caps, 36 pts (2t, 4c, 4p, 2d)
9 – Faf de Klerk (Canon Eagles) – 46 Tests, 41pts (5t, 2c, 4p)
8 – Jasper Wiese (Leicester) – 20 caps, 5pts (1t)
7 – Franco Mostert (Honda Heat) – 63 caps, 15pts (3t)
6 – Kwagga Smith (Blue Revs) – 31 caps, 20pts (4t)
5 – Lood de Jager (Panasonic Wild Knights) – 65 caps, 25pts (5t)
4 – Eben Etzebeth (captain, Cell C Sharks) – 110 caps, 15pts (3t)
3 – Frans Malherbe (DHL Stormers) – 59 caps, 5 pts (1t)
2 – Bongi Mbonambi (Cell C Sharks) – 57 caps, 60 pts (12t)
1 – Steven Kitshoff (Ulster) – 72 caps, 10pts (2t)
Replacements:
16 – Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) – 59 caps, 70pts (14t)
17 – Thomas du Toit (Bath) – 16 caps, 0 pts
18 – Vincent Koch (Stade Francais) – 42 caps, 0 pts
19 – RG Snyman (Munster) – 24 caps, 5 pts (1t)
20 – Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz) – 67 caps, 30 pts (6t)
21 – Duane Vermeulen (SA Rugby) – 66 caps, 15 pts (3t)
22 – Grant Williams (Cell C Sharks) – 2 caps, 0 pts
23 – Manie Libbok (DHL Stormers) – 4 caps, 19 pts (8c, 1p)
