Late withdrawal forces Boks into front row reshuffle

South Africa have been forced into a late change for Saturday’s clash against Argentina in Durban following the withdrawal of loosehead prop, Ox Nche.

The 30-year-old, who has started all four games to date, has dropped out of the squad due to an unspecified injury, described by the Springboks in their official statement as ‘a niggle’.

Edinburgh’s Boan Venter will start in his place, winning his fifth cap. Venter was initially named among the replacements.

Jan-Hendrik Wessels will serve as the backup prop, with his Bulls teammate, the versatile Marco Van Staden, providing hooker cover off the bench.

All six of Van Staden’s Springbok appearances this year have come as a flanker, including three starts in this year’s championship, where he has fallen foul of the referee seven times, making him the most penalised player in the competition.

However, van Staden proved at the 2023 Rugby World Cup that he can easily interchange between the two positions.

Updated Springbok team to face Argentina in Durban:

15 Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers) – 43 caps
14 Cheslin Kolbe (Tokyo Sungoliath) – 44 caps
13 Canan Moodie (Vodacom Bulls) – 18 caps
12 Damian de Allende (Wild Knights) – 91 caps
11 Ethan Hooker (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 3 caps
10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (DHL Stormers) – 13 caps
9 Cobus Reinach (DHL Stormers) – 44 caps

8 Jasper Wiese (Urayasu D-Rocks) – 37 caps
7 Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz) – 91 caps
6 Siya Kolisi (captain, Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 96 caps
5 Ruan Nortje (Vodacom Bulls) – 11 caps, 0 pts
4 Eben Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 136 caps
3 Thomas du Toit (Bath) – 28 caps
2 Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) – 82 caps
1 Boan Venter (Edinburgh) – 4 caps

Replacements:

16 Marco van Staden (Vodacom Bulls) – 30 caps
17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Vodacom Bulls) – 7 caps
18 Wilco Louw (Vodacom Bulls) – 22 caps
19 RG Snyman (Leinster) – 44 caps
20 Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs) – 57 caps
21 Morne van den Berg (Lions) – 3 caps
22 Manie Libbok (Kintetsu Liners) – 22 caps
23 Andre Esterhuizen (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 23 caps