Kolisi back to captain Boks against Georgia as Erasmus names three debutants
By
SABC Sport
15th July 2025
Siya Kolisi returns to lead South Africa against Georgia on Saturday as Rassie Erasmus handed three players their Springbok debuts.
Boan Venter, Neethling Fouche and hooker Marnus van der Merwe will all earn their first Bok caps in Nelspruit this weekend as part of an all-new front row. Venter, who was called up to the squad in June as injury cover at prop, will pack down alongside fellow prop Fouche and hooker Van der Merwe, who both made their unofficial debuts against the Barbarians.
Meanwhile, double Rugby World Cup-winning captain Siya Kolisi returns from injury to take over the captaincy for the first time this season in a loose trio that also includes Pieter-Steph du Toit and Cobus Wiese.
Erasmus' team features only five players who started last week, and eight in total from the matchday-23 that defeated Italy 45-0 in Gqeberha.
The five players who retained their places in the starting lineup are winger Edwill van der Merwe, utility back Canan Moodie, scrumhalf Grant Williams, flanker Du Toit, and lock Ruan Nortje, while Cobus Wiese and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu are promoted from the bench to the starting team.
Van der Merwe, who scored two tries in only his second match in the green and gold last week, has been named in an exciting back-three with Kurt-Lee Arendse and Aphelele Fassi, while Moodie joins forces with Damian de Allende in the midfield, and Williams pairs up with Feinberg-Mngomezulu at halfback.
Up front, apart from a new-look front row and rejigged loose trio, Eben Etzebeth will link up with Ruan Nortje in the second row.
Erasmus named a five-three split in favour of the forwards on the replacements bench, where Thomas du Toit, Vincent Koch and Bongi Mbonambi will serve as the replacement front row, along with RG Snyman and Kwagga Smith as forward cover. Faf de Klerk, Handre Pollard, and Damian Willemse provide cover in the backline.
"Marnus and Neethling played against the Barbarians, so they have an idea of what international rugby is about, while Boan has shown great potential at club level and with the squad in the last few weeks, and we are looking forward to seeing him play," Erasmus said of the three debutants.
"Building squad depth has been one of our pillars as a squad since 2018, and they are all undoubtedly ready to make the step-up."
The Springboks may have comfortably won the last two matches they played against Georgia - the last of which was in 2021 before the British & Irish Lions series - but Erasmus insisted they would not underestimate the visitors.
"Georgia are a tough outfit, and they pride themselves on their physicality and brute force in the collisions, so the set pieces, mauls, and breakdowns will be key areas.
"They also have quality backline players to round off their team, so we need to be sharp in all the departments of our game to ensure that we continue to lift our standards, build momentum, and get the desired result."
Saturday's match kicks off at 17h10.
South Africa: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Cobus Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Neethling Fouche, 2 Marnus van der Merwe, 1 Boan Venter.
Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Thomas du Toit, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Faf de Klerk, 22 Handré Pollard, 23 Damian Willemse.
