In response to the Springboks’ nosediving form this season, Mark Keohane has named the match-day 23 he would pick to battle the Wallabies in Sydney on Saturday.
“Damian Willemse at No 10 would be a breath of fresh air for the embattled Springboks in Australia. It won’t happen but this is the Springboks team I would want to see start in Sydney,” Keohane writes on Keo.co.za.
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Chosen strictly from players currently in Australia, Keohane’s squad features big changes in key positions, including fullback, flyhalf, scrumhalf and hooker.
“I was disappointed a week ago with the match 23 picked to play Australia in Adelaide. There was not enough injection of fresh faces. The Boks played as if functioning on fatigue and several players experienced horror performances.
KEO: Something amiss with the Boks
“I can’t recall Handre Pollard ever struggling as much, and I had pinned so much faith in him. Faf de Klerk is a shadow of the 2019 World Cup inspiration and the yellow card against Nic White should have been awarded for stupidity and not for any blow to White’s face. It was ill-disciplined, illegal and just dumb.
“Warrick Gelant, on the right wing, looked lost in the Bok system, Frans Steyn looked like a player who hadn’t played a match since July and even Damian de Allende was not imposing. Damian Willemse and Lukhanyo Am were the exceptions to a Bok backline that did not fire.
“Up front, a starting change is needed to the tight five and the back row. So many of the big-name World Cup-winning Bok forwards are seriously off the pace, with Pieter-Steph du Toit, in particular, a shadow of the player who dominated in 2019.”
Keohane believes these changes would kickstart the ailing Boks and show Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber “that there is an alternative to those players who in the last 13 Tests have delivered just six wins”.
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KEOHANE’S SPRINGBOKS: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Damian Willemse, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Elrigh Louw, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Trevor Nyakane, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Steven Kitshoff.
Bench: 16 Deon Fourie (hooker/loose forward), 17 Ox Nche, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Salmaan Moerat, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Herschel Jantjies, 22 Elton Jantjies, 23 Warrick Gelant.
