5 December, 2025, 3:35 pm Central - 27°C Clear

Rugby Championship: Etzebeth in De Jager out for Argentina Test

Rugby Championship: Etzebeth in De Jager out for Argentina Test

By Alipate Narawa
24/09/2025
South African lock, Lood de Jager and Eben Etzebeth

South Africa coach Rassie Erasmus has made two personnel changes and one positional to the team that trounced New Zealand for their Test against Argentina in Durban.

Injuries sustained by full-back Aphelele Fassi and lock Lood de Jager in Wellington this month has ruled them out of the fifth round.

Damian Willemse, one of the stars of the triumph in New Zealand, moves from inside centre to replace Fassi in the No 15 shirt.

Veteran Damian de Allende fills the gap left by Willemse and forms a centre partnership with Canan Moodie.

In a straight change at lock, Eben Etzebeth, the most capped Springbok with 136 Test appearances, comes in for injury-prone De Jager.

Fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who was forced to retire early in Wellington with a concussion, has been declared fit to face the Pumas at Kings Park in the Indian Ocean port city.

With two rounds remaining, Australia are the surprise Championship leaders with 11 points, South Africa and New Zealand have 10 each and Argentina nine.

Erasmus says this is a vital match for them and the Pumas, who beat New Zealand and Australia in the first four rounds of the competition.

He says Argentina have made big strides in the last few seasons, and have an astute coach in Felipe Contepomi.

The Springbok coach says Argentina boast a strong forward pack and extremely talented backs, so they pose threats all around.

He says they know that two good results could place them in a decent position to win the competition, so it is going to be a hard grind of a match.

Erasmus, who played key coaching roles in the back-to-back World Cup triumphs of 2019 and 2023, has also made two changes to his bench, which has a five forwards-three backs split.

Jan-Hendrik Wessels, who can operate as a loosehead and a hooker, will provide cover for starting hooker Malcolm Marx.

The Springboks host Los Pumas at 3.05am Sunday at Kings Park, Durban.

Meanwhile, the All Blacks play the Wallabies at 5.05pm Saturday at Eden Park.

SPRINGBOKS (15-1): Damian Willemse; Cheslin Kolbe, Canan Moodie, Damian de Allende, Ethan Hooker; Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Cobus Reinach; Jasper Wiese, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi (capt); Ruan Nortje, Eben Etzebeth; Thomas du Toit, Malcolm Marx, Ox Nche

Replacements: Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Boan Venter, Wilco Louw, RG Snyman, Kwagga Smith, Morne van den Berg, Manie Libbok, Andre Esterhuizen.

Source: Rugby.com.au

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