Siya Kolisi still missing as Springboks name one debutant for Italy

South Africa will be without captain Siya Kolisi again on Saturday when they face Italy at Loftus Versfeld.

Kolisi withdrew from the victory over the Barbarians in Cape Town with a neck complaint, and has not recovered in time to take on the Azzurri.

Jesse Kriel, who captained the side against the BaaBaas, will resume the captaincy despite Eben Etzebeth returning after missing the match at the weekend.

In Kolisi’s place in the back-row, Marco van Staden will start at No.6, while Jasper Wiese will wear the No.8 jersey. They will be joined by debutant Vincent Tshituka.

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“Vincent has fitted into our structures really well and he showed last week that he has the potential to play Test rugby, so we are excited to see what he can do against Italy and to see him make his debut,” head coach Rassie Erasmus said of the Sharks flanker.

On the injury to his captain Kolisi, Erasmus added: “Siya unfortunately picked up a niggle, but Marco did a good job at flanker last week and he is one of the core players in our team, so we are blessed to have such depth in the squad.

“If one goes through this team, there are so many leaders, and we were impressed with how Jesse accepted the responsibility of wearing the captain’s armband last week. He is a player who leads by example on and off the field, and he thoroughly deserves this honour.”

Kriel will lead a largely experienced side, with Tshituka, two-cap scrum-half Morne van den Berg and the 16-cap tighthead Wilco Louw being the only three players with fewer than 20 caps.

There is yet more experience on the bench, with prop Jan-Hendrik Wessels being the only replacement with fewer than 40 caps (three). Willie Le Roux, who joins Faf de Klerk as one of two backs in a 6-2 split, will earn his 99th cap at his home ground.

Springboks XV
15 Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers) – 39 caps, 56 points (4t, 9c, 4p, 2 dg)
14 Cheslin Kolbe (Tokyo Sungoliath) – 40 caps, 111 points (18t, 3c, 5p)
13 Jesse Kriel (captain, Canon Eagles) – 79 caps, 90 points (18t)
12 Damian de Allende (Wild Knights) – 87 caps, 55 points (11t)
11 Kurt-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls) – 24 caps, 90 points (18t)
10 Handre Pollard (Vodacom Bulls) – 80 caps, 772 points (7t, 109c, 168p, 5dg)
9 Morne van den Berg (Emirates Lions) – 2 caps, 0 points
8 Jasper Wiese (Urayasu D-Rocks) – 34 caps, 10 points (2t)
7 Vincent Tshituka (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – uncapped
6 Marco van Staden (Vodacom Bulls) – 25 caps, 10 points (2t)
5 Lood de Jager (Wild Knights) – 66 caps, 25 points (5t)
4 Eben Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 131 caps, 35 points (7t)
3 Wilco Louw (Vodacom Bulls) – 16 caps, 0 points
2 Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) – 76 caps, 105 points (21t)
1 Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 39 caps, 0 points

Replacements
16 Bongi Mbonambi (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 77 caps, 70 points (14t)
17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Vodacom Bulls) – 3 caps, 5 points (1t)
18 Vincent Koch (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 61 caps, 0 points
19 RG Snyman (Leinster) – 40 caps, 10 points (2t)
20 Franco Mostert (Honda Heat) – 78 caps, 20 points (4t)
21 Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs) – 51 caps, 45 points (9t)
22 Faf de Klerk (Canon Eagles) – 58 caps, 50 points (5t, 5c, 5p)
23 Willie le Roux (Vodacom Bulls) – 98 caps, 75 points (15t)