WeeklySA_AdminWIN OR DRAW: SA could return to No 1 spot in world rugby rankings
By Sports Reporter
Following New Zealand’s win over Ireland, only a Scotland victory at Murrayfield on Sunday can stop the Springboks from returning to the summit of the World Rugby rankings next week.
Flyhalf Damian McKenzie kicked 18 points as the All Blacks upset Andy Farrell’s charges 23-13 in Dublin on Friday night.
The result marked the end of Ireland’s 19-match winning streak and their reign at No 1 in the rankings.
The world champion Boks, who were entrenched in first place for 13 months until their September defeat to Argentina, will regain top spot with a win or draw on Sunday.
For New Zealand, Friday’s victory was crucial, signalling a strong return to form and positioning them just behind the Boks in the rankings equation, though the All Blacks will claim No 1 if Scotland upstages the world champions at Murrayfield.
The Boks are chasing their fifth successive win in the Scottish capital.
Elsewhere in the rankings, France, currently fourth, won’t move up regardless of their outcome against Japan due to a significant points gap. Argentina, fifth, could jump to fourth if they defeat Italy, coupled with a France loss.
England, also within striking distance, could break into the top four if they defeat Australia and see other results align in their favor.
Meanwhile, Italy, holding a historic high of eighth, won’t climb higher even with a win over Argentina but risks slipping with a loss. Fiji, too, has much at stake: a victory over Wales could boost them by two places, while a Welsh victory by 15 points or more could narrow the gap to the top 10.
Conversely, Wales could face a historic drop to 12th if they lose heavily and Japan upsets France.
BOMB SQUAD
Coming to Sunday’s game against Scotland, Kwagga Smith will start at No 8 in his 50th Test as Eben Etzebeth captains a Springbok team that features seven forwards on the bench for the clash in Edinburgh.
Smith earns his 50th Test cap when the world champions line up against Scotland at Murrayfield to begin the November tour.
Locks Franco Mostert and RG Snyman return to the green and gold after long spells on the sidelines due to injury in a strong team named by Rassie Erasmus, who picked Siya Kolisi on the bench and Etzebeth to lead.
The 31-year-old Smith, who made his Test debut against Wales in Washington D.C. in 2018 and went on to win two World Cup winner’s medals, starts this significant career milestone at the base of the scrum.
Mostert returns to the team for the first time since suffering a broken leg against Ireland in July, and Snyman is fully fit after a foot injury sustained in Australia in the build-up to the first Test against the Wallabies in the 2024 Rugby Championship, which ruled him out of the team’s triumphant campaign.
Erasmus opted for a split of seven forwards and one back on the bench, and made 11 changes to the starting team that defeated Argentina in their closing Rugby Championship clash in Nelspruit in September. Fourteen players in the match-day squad featured in that match against the Pumas.
There are 12 survivors in the 23 from the squad that last faced Scotland (in the pool stages of last year’s World Cup) – Mostert, Snyman, Etzebeth, Malcolm Marx, Bongi Mbonambi, Kolisi, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Marco van Staden, Jasper Wiese, Ox Nche, Grant Williams and Willie le Roux.
There’s a completely new backline to the match-day team that beat the Pumas in Nelspruit, scrumhalf Jaden Hendrikse alone retaining his place in the starting lineup.
Veteran Willie le Roux will take one more step toward reaching the exclusive group of Springbok centurions when he runs on at fullback in what will be his 98th Test match, while Makazole Mapimpi and Canan Moodie have been named as the wings, outside the midfield duo of Andre Esterhuizen and Lukhanyo Am.
Hendrikse, meanwhile, partners the experienced Handre Pollard in an exciting halfback pairing.
Erasmus loaded a heavy bench with the front row of Marx, Vincent Koch and Gerhard Steenekamp, Snyman providing lock cover and Kolisi, Du Toit and Wiese set to give the back row a boost.
Williams, who provides cover at scrumhalf and wing, is the only backline player among the replacements.
Springboks – 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Kwagga Smith, 7 Elrigh Louw, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth (c), 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche.
Subs: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Gerhard Steenekamp, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Siya Kolisi, 21 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 22 Jasper Wiese, 23 Grant Williams.
