Historic Portugal test bigger for Springboks in aftermath of drawn Ireland series

BLOEMFONTEIN, South Africa (AP) — The historic sold-out first rugby test against Portugal on Saturday grew in importance for South Africa in the wake of the bruising Ireland series.

The Springboks were always going to experiment for Portugal with the 2027 World Cup in mind, but the match has also become a trial for the Rugby Championship after Ireland — which won the second test last weekend in Durban to draw the series — left them worse off than expected.

Lock Franco Mostert broke a leg and will miss the rest of the year. Hooker Malcolm Marx broke a tibia in the crocodile roll that earned Ireland captain Caelan Doris a yellow card, and flanker Pieter-Steph du Toit and wing Cheslin Kolbe — injuries unspecified — were out for up to six weeks.

They will miss the first Rugby Championship game on Aug. 10 against Australia in Brisbane, are doubts for the second match a week later, but are expected to be available when New Zealand visits at the end of August.

The Springboks matchday 23 has seven uncapped players and seven more with less than seven caps.

The starting new caps are Bulls front-rowers Jan-Hendrik Wessels and Johan Grobelaar and flanker Phepsi Buthelezi. Off the bench will come Stormers hooker Andre-Hugo Venter, the son of former Boks flanker Andre Venter, Lions flanker Ruan Venter (no relation), scrumhalf Morne van den Berg and fullback Quan Horn.

“We’ve tried to do our succession planning and we’ve tried not to let that loss against Ireland affect our mindset,” coach Rassie Erasmus said. “We didn’t have this opportunity in 2020, now we do, so we must stick with it.”

Only four from last Saturday’s 25-24 loss to Ireland were retained: Salmaan Moerat, who will captain the Boks for the first time, fellow lock RG Snyman, wing Kurt-Lee Arendse and utility back Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.

Moerat has been marked as a future fulltime Springboks captain after leading South Africa Schools, the Junior Springboks and the Stormers.

“It’s great that he comes from a rich rugby background, but that’s not why we picked him,” Erasmus said. “We picked him because he is a great leader and he doesn’t stand back physically or tactically. So it’s well deserved.”

The newcomers have been surrounded by World Cup winners Lukhanyo Am, Manie Libbok, Cobus Reinach, Trevor Nyakane and Thomas du Toit, all playing their first international this year. It is Am’s first test since last August.

Portugal earned this test on its Rugby World Cup deeds in France, where it beat Fiji, drew with Georgia, and was competitive with Wales. This year, it rebounded from a shock loss to Belgium by reaching a second straight Rugby Europe Championship final, where it was outmuscled again by Georgia 36-10.

After Patrice Lagisquet left following the World Cup, a new coach wasn’t appointed until April. Simon Mannix, the former All Blacks flyhalf who has coached in France and Ireland, won his first match in charge last weekend when Namibia was beaten by a record 37-22 in Windhoek.

Among five changes to that team and six new reserves, the biggest was the loss of tireless flanker Nicolas Martins, Portugal’s best forward.

“We will treat them and the occasion with the respect it deserves,” Erasmus said. “For us, personally, it’s important to live up to our standards and build momentum going into the Rugby Championship.”

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Lineups:

South Africa: Aphelele Fassi, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Lukhanyo Am, Andre Esterhuizen, Makazaole Mapimpi, Manie Libbok, Cobus Reinach; Evan Roos, Ben-Jason Dixon, Phepsi Buthelezi, RG Snyman, Salmaan Moerat (captain), Thomas du Toit, Johan Grobelaar, Jan-Hendrik Wessels. Reserves: Andre-Hugo Venter, Ntuthuko Mchunu, Trevor Nyakane, Ruan Venter, Elrigh Louw, Morne van den Berg, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Quan Horn.

Portugal: Simao Bento, Manuel Cardoso Pinto, Jose Lima, Tomas Appleton (captain), Rodrigo Marta, Joris Moura, Hugo Camacho; Vasco Baptista, Diego Pinheiro, Jose Madeira, Duarte Torgal, Nicolas Fernandes, Diogo Hasse Ferreira, Luka Begic, Francisco Fernandes. Reserves: David Costa, Pedro Vicente, Abel da Cunha, Antonio Rebelo Andrade, Andre Cunha, Pedro Lucas, Domingos Cabral, Jose Paiva dos Santos.

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AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby