Overview
- The Springboks confirmed a team update on Friday that promoted Jan‑Hendrik Wessels, Gerhard Steenekamp and Thomas du Toit into the starting front row about an hour before kick‑off.
- Malcolm Marx, Ox Nché and Wilco Louw, who had been named to start earlier in the week, were moved to the replacements bench to provide second‑half impact.
- The revised starting XV lists Damian Willemse at 15 and Gerhard Steenekamp at loosehead, with the full matchday 23 announced on the team’s social channels.
- The Test will be played at Stade de France, Saint‑Denis, with Andrea Piardi appointed as referee and the kick‑off time and officials published in the team update.
- Erasmus has used the same late front‑row swap before, most notably ahead of the All Blacks match in Cape Town, a tactic that targets scrum matchups and bench management during the Nations Championship.