Pollard returns to the Bok group after greater than a yr out, along with his final sport against Australia in Adelaide in August the place he picked up a knee damage.
Handre Pollard makes a return to the Springbok beginning line-up for the primary time since August final yr as certainly one of 12 modifications to the group that misplaced to Ireland final trip, with them up against Tonga of their closing World Cup pool match at the Stade de Marseille on Sunday night time.
Other notable modifications see Deon Fourie in because the beginning hooker and Marco van Staden backs him up on the bench with Bongi Mbonambi rested, whereas scrumhalf Grant Williams is again on the wing and Duane Vermeulen is available in at No 7.
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The bench is one other huge speaking level because the Boks have gone with a 5-3 cut up of forwards to backs, after they went with the controversial 7-1 cut up against the Irish.
Backline overhaul
The total Bok backline has been overhauled from the previous weekend’s conflict, with Canan Moodie and Andre Esterhuizen persevering with their spectacular budding centre partnership, Willie le Roux is again at fullback, Makazole Mapimpi slots in on the left wing and Cobus Reinach is available in at scrumhalf.
In the ahead pack captain Siya Kolisi, Eben Etzebeth and Jasper Wiese are the one gamers to retain their spots, as Ox Nche and Vincent Koch are available in because the props and Marvin Orie slots into the second row.
On the bench Steven Kitshoff and Trevor Nyakane cowl the entrance row, whereas Franco Mostert and Kwagga Smith cowl the remainder of the pack, with Jaden Hendrikse, Jesse Kriel and Manie Libbok the three backline subs.
“This is a strong and physical team, which is exactly what is need against a side like Tonga that plays with passion and force,” defined Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber.
“Each one of us understands the importance of this match with an eye on qualifying for the quarter-final, so accurate execution, physicality and doing our basics right will be vital to get the desired result.”
Bonus level win
The Boks want a giant bonus level win over Tonga to presumably safe their place within the quarterfinals of the World Cup and they’ll want a giant effort from the gamers to offer them the perfect probability of progressing to the following spherical.
“They (Tonga) will enter with the mindset that they have nothing to lose after going down in their opening two matches of the tournament, so they won’t hold back,” added Nienaber.
“They had spectacular moments of their matches against Scotland and Ireland, so it will require a full 80-minute effort. The emphasis for us will probably be on doing what we have to do to progress out of the pool phases and to bounce again from final week and construct momentum.
“We are still in the World Cup, and we know we have the players and skills to defend our title. We now need to transfer all the hard work at training into producing a top-quality performance.”
Springbok group:
Willie le Roux, Grant Williams, Canan Moodie, Andre Esterhuizen, Makazole Mapimpi, Handre Pollard, Cobus Reinach, Jasper Wiese, Duane Vermeulen, Siya Kolisi (c), Marvin Orie, Eben Etzebeth, Vincent Koch, Deon Fourie, Ox Nche
Bench: Marco van Staden, Steven Kitshoff, Trevor Nyakane, Franco Mostert, Kwagga Smith, Jaden Hendrikse, Jesse Kriel, Manie Libbok
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