Kolbe fit again, starts at 15 for Springboks in Ireland
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Kolbe fit again, starts at 15 for Springboks in Ireland
DUBLIN (AP) — Cheslin Kolbe will return from a three-month absence because of a broken jaw to start a test at fullback for South Africa for the first time against Ireland in Dublin on Saturday.
Kolbe’s move to 15 allows Makazole Mapimpi and Kurt-Lee Arendse to start on the wings in a highly anticipated meeting between the world champion Springboks and the No. 1-ranked Irish.
Damian Willemse was kept at flyhalf in the South Africa team named on Tuesday after he finished the Rugby Championship there following an injury to Handré Pollard.
Lukhanyo Am is still missing for South Africa and Jesse Kriel will stand in again at outside center at Lansdowne Road. The pack is as expected, with Steven Kitshoff, Malcolm Marx and Frans Malherbe in the front row, Eben Etzebeth and Lood de Jager in the second row, and Siya Kolisi, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Jasper Wiese the loose forwards.
Springboks coach Jacques Nienaber also gambled again on a forward-heavy 6-2 split on the bench — a regular South Africa tactic — with utility Willie le Roux and scrumhalf Faf de Klerk the two backline players and no specialist cover at flyhalf.
Kolbe broke his jaw in the home series against Wales in July but Nienaber said he came through four games with club side Toulon to prove his readiness for South Africa’s European tour opener.
Ireland is flying high after an historic series victory in New Zealand in July and has won the last two meetings against the Boks in Dublin, including a 38-3 drubbing the last time they met in 2017.
South Africa and Ireland are also in the same group at next year’s Rugby World Cup in France.
“Obviously we are a long way out from the World Cup,” Nienaber said, “but we have a limited number of matches left before the competition and the preparation doesn’t get better than playing a side we will face in the World Cup and the No. 1 side in the world.”
The Springboks go from Dublin to Marseille to play No. 2-ranked France and also face Italy and England on their four-game trip.
