Duane Vermeulen captains Springboks as ex-Ireland lock Jean Kleyn debuts against Wallabies

Duane Vermeulen will captain the Springboks in their first Test match of 2023 when he leads the side out in their Rugby Championship opener against the Wallabies at Loftus Versveld on Saturday.

Vermeulen skippers the side in the absence of regular captain Siya Kolisi, who is nursing a knee injury.

The experienced back-rower led the side during the 2019 Rugby Championship and will captain the team for the third time in his career on Saturday.

Third-oldest captain

The 37-year-old becomes the third-oldest player to captain the Springboks behind Victor Matfield and Schalk Brits, who were both 38.

Jacques Nienaber has also handed a Springbok debut to ex-Ireland lock Jean Kleyn, who played five Tests for Ireland in 2019.

Kleyn is eligible to represent South Africa, his country of birth, again after serving his three-year stand-down period from international rugby and receiving?approval from World Rugby.

Fly-half Manie Libbok and flanker Marco van Staden also make their first starts for the Springboks, having previously made three and 10 appearances respectively as replacements.

Nienaber has also named 14 players to depart early for New Zealand on Tuesday to acclimatise and maximise their chances of performing well in the first two Tests.

Vermeulen packs down alongside Pieter-Steph du Toit and Van Staden in the back-row, while Frans Malherbe and Ox Nche start either side of hooker Bongi Mbonambi.

Kleyn earns his Test debut alongside Marvin Orie at lock, with RG Snyman set to earn his first appearance for the Springboks since the 2019 Rugby World Cup final off the bench.

Combinations

In the backline, Bulls flyers Canan Moodie and Kurt-Lee Arendse start together in front of their home fans with the experienced Willie le Roux at full-back.

The former Sharks partnership of Andre Esterhuizen and Lukhanyo Am reunite the centres with Cobus Reinach and Libbok the starting half-backs.

Grant Williams and Damian Willemse provide backline cover in the six-two split with hooker Joseph Dweba, props Thomas du Toit and Vincent Koch, and back five forwards Snyman, Evan Roos and Deon Fourie completing the bench.

Fly-half Elton Jantjies, prop Trevor Nyakane and scrum-half Herschel Jantjies remain with the team to assist in their preparations for Saturday’s season-opener and to provide cover if necessary.

Players travelling to New Zealand early

“Our plan from the outset was to select a squad that we believe has what it takes to beat Australia while at the same time selecting a group of players that could travel to New Zealand to give us the best possible chance to do well in both matches,” said Bok head coach Nienaber.

“Our last Castle Lager Rugby Championship match is in Johannesburg and then we’ll be able to select a squad from our full complement of players.

“This squad features several Rugby World Cup winners and a crop of younger players who have done the job for us at the highest level, and judging by their enthusiasm and high work ethic at training, we know they are the right players for this big task.”

Commenting on the appointment of Vermeulen as captain, Nienaber said: “We had a few options as potential captains and we have two good leaders in Duane and Lukhanyo, who has been named vice-captain for this match. They are both quality leaders and they’ll have a lot of experience around them on the field, which is fantastic for us as coaches.”

The group that will leave early for New Zealand includes injured captain Kolisi and will be joined early by Nienaber, assistant coach Felix Jones and director of rugby Rassie Erasmus, who will travel to New Zealand immediately after the Australia Test to ensure that the team has a full week of training.

Springboks team to face Australia

South Africa:?15 Willie le Roux, 14 Canan Moodie, 13 Lukhanyo Am (c), 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Duane Vermeulen (c), 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Jean Kleyn, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements:?16 Joseph Dweba, 17 Thomas du Toit, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Evan Roos, 21 Deon Fourie, 22 Grant Williams, 23 Damian Willemse

Date:?Saturday, July 8
Venue:?Loftus Versveld, Pretoria
Kick-off:?17:05 local (16:05 BST, 15:05 GMT)
Referee:?Ben O’Keeffe (NZR)
Assistant Referees:?Paul Williams (NZR), Andrea Piardi (FIR)
TMO:?Brendon Pickerill (NZR)

Travelling group to New Zealand:?Steven Kitshoff, Malcolm Marx, Eben Etzebeth, Lood de Jager, Franco Mostert, Jean-Luc du Preez, Kwagga Smith, Faf de Klerk, Cheslin Kolbe, Makazole Mapimpi, Damian de Allende, Jesse Kriel, Siya Kolisi.

Jasper Wiese will join those players in New Zealand later in the week following the birth of his child on Monday.

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