JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) – South Africa lock Eben Etzebeth has been passed fit to face New Zealand in a Rugby Championship showdown in Johannesburg on Saturday, but will start from the bench having originally been excluded from the team announced this week due to injury.
Coach Rassie Erasmus omitted the double World Cup winner from his matchday 23 when he named it on Tuesday, but amid a crisis in the second row that sees the Springboks still without five regulars, he has drafted the giant lock into the replacements.
Etzebeth takes the place on the bench of flanker Marco van Staden and should he come on will earn a 125th cap, moving into second place outright on the all-time list for South Africa, two behind former lock Victor Matfield.
“Our selection policy has always been that if a player does not train on a Monday, he will not play on Saturday, but Eben has made it through training pain-free all week, so we had to make the tough call to name him in the squad at the expense of Marco,” Erasmus said.
Regular flanker Pieter-Steph du Toit will start at lock against the All Blacks alongside Ruan Nortje in the second row, who earns a third cap.
South Africa lead the Rugby Championship table after two rounds following a full haul of 10 points from bonus-point wins in Australia.
New Zealand are second with five points. The second meeting between the sides will be in Cape Town on Sept. 7.
Updated team: 15-Aphelele Fassi, 14-Cheslin Kolbe, 13-Jesse Kriel, 12-Damian de Allende, 11-Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10-Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9-Cobus Reinach, 8-Jasper Wiese, 7-Ben-Jason Dixon, 6-Siya Kolisi (captain), 5-Ruan Nortje, 4-Pieter-Steph du Toit, 3-Frans Malherbe, 2-Bongi Mbonambi, 1-Ox Nche
Replacements: 16-Malcolm Marx, 17-Gerhard Steenekamp, 18-Vincent Koch, 19-Eben Etzebeth, 20-Elrigh Louw, 21-Kwagga Smith, 22-Grant Williams, 23-Handre Pollard.
(Reporting by Nick Said; Editing by Toby Davis)
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