Kolbe and Willemse strike 50 in Nations Championship opener against England

Springbok backs Cheslin Kolbe and Damian Willemse will mark the opening Test of the season against England in the inaugural Nations Championship competition by celebrating their 50th Test caps eight years after making their international debuts in an experienced team named by Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus.

The Bok coach opted for tried and tested combinations for the clash, with flanker Siya Kolisi leading South Africa for the 72nd time in a Test in the first outing between the sides at Ellis Park since 2018, which was also his first Test as captain.

The familiar starting lineup will be supported by an exciting replacement bench.

Two players in the pack, Kolisi and Eben Etzebetha, are Test centurions. Completing the loose trio are Jasper Wiese and Pieter-Steph du Toit, while Ruan Nortje has been named in the middle row.

The 2025 World Rugby and SA Rugby Men’s Player of the Year, Malcolm Marx (hooker) will pack down between experienced props Ox Nche and Thomas du Toit.

Kurt-Lee Arendse (wing) will complete the back three with Kolbe and Willemse, while Jesse Kriel and Damian de Allende will man the midfield and Manie Libbok and Grant Williams will form the halfback pairing.

Erasmus opted for a split of five forwards and three backs on the bench, with Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Gerhard Steenekamp and Zach Porthen serving as the back-up front row, along with the duo of Marco van Staden and Cameron Hanekom, back in the squad for the first time since November 2024, as the other two forwards.

The three backline players are Cobus Reinach, Andre Esterhuizen and Canan Moodie, who are all utility players in their own right.

Erasmus revealed that Franco Mostert (utility forward) and Lood de Jager (lock) were not available for selection this week due to a niggle and illness, while Riley Norton (utility forward) has been released from the camp after picking up an injury.

Ethan Hooker (wing) will join the squad in Johannesburg on Monday after recovering from the shoulder injury that has sidelined him since April.

“England are a quality outfit and we are expecting them to give everything they have in this match, so it was important to select a squad with experience combined with a few younger players, who have proved that they have what it takes to perform at this level,” said Erasmus.

“The players have worked very hard at training, and they know what it takes to perform against a side of this calibre with a good coaching team, so we hope they can transfer that effort onto the field on Saturday.

“It was great to have a run against the Barbarians and Zimbabwe last week because it afforded some of our players some valuable game time but this weekend will be a different prospect altogether.

“England are a settled team, they come off a Six Nations campaign earlier in the season and similarly to us, they will also want to have a good start to this exciting new competition, so we are expecting it to be a bruising encounter.”

The Bok coach was delighted for Kolbe and Willemse on achieving this special milestone in their careers and said: “They have both been stalwarts for us over the years and as a team we would like to make it a memorable day for them. It’s not every day you have two players playing their 50th Test, so that will certainly add to our motivation this week.

“That said, England will come to Johannesburg as determined as ever, so it’s going to be a hard grind of a match, which will require us to be accurate in every facet of the game, and convert the opportunities we create into points, but they will have the same mindset, so we need to hit the ground running if we want to do well.”

The match kicks off at 5.40pm and will be broadcast live on SuperSport.

Meanwhile, Springbok loose forward Elrigh Louw has been called up to the national squad for the Nations Championship as additional forward cover and will join his teammates in Johannesburg on Tuesday.

Louw played the last of his 13 Test matches in November 2024 and spent most of the 2025 season on the sidelines after suffering a serious knee injury last season.

He returned to the field this year and made a strong impact in the Vodacom Bulls pack, which earned him a call-up to the Springbok alignment camps, and he will make a welcome return to the wider squad as they begin their inaugural Nations Championship campaign against England at Ellis Park on Saturday.

This match will be followed by back-to-back clashes against Scotland at Loftus Versfeld in Pretoria on Saturday, 11 July and Wales at Hollywoodbets Kings Park in Durban on Saturday, 18 July.

Springbok starting XV: 15 Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers) – 49 caps, 71 pts (7t, 9c, 4p, 2dg), 14 Cheslin Kolbe (Suntory Sungoliath*) – 49 caps, 126 pts (21t, 3c, 5p), 13 Jesse Kriel (Canon Eagles) – 87 caps, 100 pts (20t), 12 Damian de Allende (Wild Knights) – 97 caps, 55 pts (11t), 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls*) – 30 caps, 115 pts (23t); 10 Manie Libbok (Kintetsu Liners) – 28 caps, 145 pts (2t, 48c, 13p), 9 Grant Williams (Hollywoodbets Sharks*) – 28 caps, 35 pts (7t); 8 Jasper Wiese (Urayasu D-Rocks) – 44 caps, 15 pts (3t), 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz) – 95 caps, 70 pts (14t), 6 Siya Kolisi (captain, Hollywoodbets Sharks*) – 103 caps, 70 pts (14t); 5 Ruan Nortje (Vodacom Bulls*) – 18 caps, 5 pts (1t), 4 Eben Etzebeth (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 141 caps, 45 pts (9t); 3 Thomas du Toit (Bath*) – 32 caps, 5 pts (1t), 2 Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) – 87 caps, 130 pts (26t), 1 Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 47 caps, 0 pts. Replacements: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Vodacom Bulls) – 9 caps, 10 pts (2t), 17 Gerhard Steenekamp (Vodacom Bulls) – 16 caps, 10 pts (2t), 18 Zach Porthen (DHL Stormers) – 3 caps, 0 pts, 19 Marco van Staden (Vodacom Bulls) – 33 caps, 20 pts (4t), 20 Cameron Hanekom (Vodacom Bulls) – 1 cap, 0 pts, 21 Cobus Reinach (DHL Stormers) – 50 caps, 95 pts (19t), 22 Andre Esterhuizen (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 29 caps, 25 pts (5t), 23 Canan Moodie (Vodacom Bulls) – 23 caps, 45 pts (9t).

** Denotes the players’ current clubs, which will change on 1 July.*

Stats and facts

Springbok record against England: Played 47; Won 29; Lost 16; Drawn 2; Points for 1027; Points against 804; Tries scored: 93; Tries against: 60; Highest score: 58-10; Biggest win 48 points. Win percentage 61,7%.

Miscellaneous

• Cheslin Kolbe and Damian Willemse will both earn their 50th Test caps for South Africa.

• Willemse’s first Test was on 8 August 2018, aged 20, when he came on as a replacement against Argentina at in Durban.

• Kolbe made his Test debut off the bench against Australia in Brisbane on 8 September 2018 and scored the first of his 21 Test tries a week later against New Zealand in Wellington.

• Cobus Reinach requires only five more Test points to reach 100 in the green and gold.

• Eben Etzebeth will extend his Springbok record as the most capped player to 142 caps.

• Damian de Allende will require only two more Test appearances after this weekend to join the exclusive group of players to reach the 100 Test mark.

• Pieter-Steph du Toit requires only four more Test appearances after this match to earn his 100th Test.

• Ox Nche will need only two more Tests to join Willemse and Kolbe on 50 Tests.

• The Springboks have won three of the four matches they have played against England in Johannesburg, dating back to 1972, with their last defeat against the English being at Ellis Park that year.

• This match will mark the first time the Springboks face England since the 2024 Castle Lager Outgoing Tour – a match South Africa won 29-20.

• The total Test caps for the Springbok starting line-up is 935.

• There are 368 caps in the backline, with 567 caps among the forwards. On the bench, there are a further 164 caps.

• The average caps per player in the backline is 53, the forwards 71, while the players on the bench average 21.