Rassie names these amazing 18 World Cup winners to face Wallabies in Rugby Championship opener as Libbok gets nod

In a sign of the growing respect for the Wallabies, Rassie Erasmus has named 18 World Cup winners in his Springboks side to take on Joe Schmidt’s men in the Rugby Championship opener at Ellis Park on Sunday (1:10am AEST).

After the Wallabies beat the Lions in the third Test in the nation’s latest positive result since their disastrous World Cup campaign, Erasmus left little to chance as the Springboks attempt to get their championship defence off to the perfect start.

With a two-Test tour of New Zealand to follow, including a rare trip to Eden Park, the Springboks can ill-afford a misstep in what shapes as one of the most anticipated Rugby Championship tournaments in years.

With Jasper Wiese banned, captain Siya Kolisi wears the No.8 jersey for the first time for the Springboks and forms a back-row that includes Pieter-Steph du Toit and Marco van Staden.

The tight-five is formidable with Lood de Jager joining Eben Etzebeth in the second-row, while Ox Nche, Malcolm Marx and Wilco Louw form the front-row.

With Damian de Allende and Cheslin Kolbe out after being eased back to training recently, the backline is missing a couple of familiar faces but there’s still plenty of quality and balance.

Talented halfback Grant Williams joins Manie Libbok in the halves, while Andre Esterhuizen – the hard-running midfielder, who won a Premiership at Harlequins before returning to South Africa – joins Jesse Kriel in the midfield.

Aphelele Fassi is at fullback alongside regular tryscorer Kurt-Lee Arendse and newcomer Edwill van der Merwe.

The bench has a combination of experience and youth with Bongi Mbonambi the replacement hooker, while Lions tight-head prop Asenathi Ntlabakanye is poised to make his debut.

Franco Mostert and Kwagga Smith give the Springboks a hard edge, while there’s some versatility in Cobus Reinach, Canan Moodie and Damian Willemse.

Erasmus, a master of mind games, who sprung another surprise by announcing his side 72 hours before he needed to and didn’t pass up the opportunity to remind his opponents of their superior record in recent years, said he had chosen a side to combat the Wallabies.

“We’ve been experimenting with player combinations during the (recent) series and at our conditioning camp in the last two weeks, and we believe this team will allow us to play the type of rugby we want to play against Australia,” Erasmus said in a statement.

“The Wallabies will be determined to change their win record against us in the last three seasons, so they’ll come out guns blazing, and we are confident that the players we selected will be up for the challenge.

“All of the starters except for Edwill have faced them before, and we are confident that he is ready for this challenge.”

He added: “Australia showed that they are on the right trajectory in their last two matches against the British & Irish Lions and we have no doubt they will enter this match with confidence and determined to build on those performances.

“They are a physical and well-coached team, and we’ll certainly not underestimate how much those performances, combined with their motivation to bounce back strongly against us after the last few results between the teams, and win their first match ever at Ellis

Park, will inspire them.

“That said, we have also been working hard to keep building on our game and improve, and we believe our two-week conditioning camp has placed us in the right frame of mind for the Rugby Championship. So hopefully we can transfer that hard work into our game to place ourselves in a good position to defend the title.”

The Wallabies, whose last win at Ellis Park occurred back in 1963, will name their squad on Thursday night.

Springboks (1-15): Ox Nche, Malcolm Marx, Wilco Louw, Eben Etzebeth, Lood de Jager, Marco van Staden, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi (c), Grant Williams, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Andre Esterhuizen, Jesse Kriel, Edwill van der Merwe, Aphelele Fassi

Replacements: Bongi Mbonambi, Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Asenathi Ntlabakanye, Franco Mostert, Kwagga Smith, Cobus Reinach, Canan Moodie, Damian Willemse