Handre Pollard starts as South Africa make 12 changes for Tonga

South Africa have made wholesale changes from the side that lost to Ireland last week for their match against Tonga this Sunday in Marseille.

Only captain Siya Kolisi, Eben Etzebeth and Jasper Wiese survive in the starting XV, as Jacques Nienaber has called upon fly-half Handre Pollard.

Pollard was drafted into the Springboks’ World Cup squad last week as a replacement for hooker Malcolm Marx. Though he did not feature against Ireland, he was expected to play against Tonga after the troubles South Africa had with the tee in Paris. Starting fly-half against Ireland, Manie Libbok, has moved to the bench, as Nienaber has opted for a conventional 5-3 split amongst his substitutes rather than the 7-1 split against the world number ones.

Flanker/ hooker Deon Fourie starts in the No2 jersey, with fellow flanker/ hooker Marco van Staden deputising on the bench as Bongi Mbonambi is rested completely. Elsewhere in the pack, Duane Vermeulen will start but in an unfamiliar role at the side of the scrum, as Jasper Wiese retains the No8 berth. Vincent Koch also starts after pulling out of the Romania match just before kick-off with an injury.

In the backline, scrum-half Grant Williams is to be deployed on the wing again as he was against Romania, with Cobus Reinach starting at scrum-half.

In view of their opponents on Sunday, Nienaber emphasised the importance of picking a physical team to match Tonga.

“This is a strong and physical team, which is exactly what need against a side like Tonga that plays with passion and force,” said Nienaber.

“Each one of us understands the importance of this match with an eye on qualifying for the quarter-final, so accurate execution, physicality and doing our basics right will be vital to get the desired result.

“They will enter with the mindset that they have nothing to lose after going down in their opening two matches of the tournament, so they won’t hold back.

“They had impressive moments in their matches against Scotland and Ireland, so this will require a full 80-minute effort. The emphasis for us will be on doing what we need to do to progress out of the pool stages and to bounce back from last week and build momentum.”

Following their loss to Ireland, it is now ideal for South Africa to not only win, but win with a bonus-point to provide some security if Scotland beat Ireland in the final weekend of pool stage action.

South Africa XV
15. Willie le Roux
14. Grant Williams
13. Canan Moodie
12. Andre Esterhuizen
11. Makazole Mapimpi
10. Handre Pollard
9. Cobus Reinach
1. Ox Nche
2. Deon Fourie
3. Vincent Koch
4. Eben Etzebeth
5. Marvin Orie
6. Siya Kolisi (c)
7. Duane Vermeulen
8. Jasper Wiese

Replacements
16. Marco van Staden
17. Steven Kitshoff
18. Trevor Nyakane
19. Franco Mostert
20. Kwagga Smith
21. Jaden Hendrikse
22. Manie Libbok
23. Jesse Kriel