Latest news with #GeorgiaTest
eNCA
3 days ago
- Sport
- eNCA
Kolisi makes first appearance of season
MBOMBELA - Captain and flanker Siya Kolisi will make his first appearance of the season when Rugby World Cup holders South Africa face Georgia in Mbombela on Saturday in a one-off Test. A stiff neck ruled the two-time World Cup winner out of an exhibition match win over the Barbarians in Cape Town last month. Kolisi then sustained an Achilles tendon "niggle" and head coach Rassie Erasmus opted not to risk the veteran in a 2-0 Test series victory over Italy this month. He returns as the Springboks seek to maintain a 100 percent record against the Lelos, having beaten them comfortably in a 2003 World Cup pool match in Australia and a 2021 Test in Pretoria. "We wanted to make sure that Siya is 100 percent fit before selecting him, so it is great to have him back in the squad," said Erasmus after naming his matchday 23. Props Boan Venter and Neethling Fouche as well as hooker Marnus van der Merwe will all make their Test debuts in the northeastern city. "Boan, Marnus, and Neethling have been training hard and deserve their chances," said Erasmus, a key coaching figure in the 2019 and 2023 World Cup triumphs. "Marnus and Neethling played against the Barbarians, so they have an idea of what international rugby is about. "Boan has shown great potential at club level (for Edinburgh) and with the squad in the last few weeks, and we are looking forward to seeing him play. "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 starting team shows 10 changes from last weekend's 45-0 victory over Italy in Gqeberha. South Africa had to play 58 minutes with 14 men after number 8 Jasper Wiese was red-carded for head-butting prop Danilo Fischetti. Automatically ruled out of the Georgia Test as a result of his ill discipline, his place is taken by young brother Cobus Wiese, who debuted off the bench last weekend. Winger Edwill van der Merwe, who scored two tries in Gqeberha in his first appearance for 13 months and won the player of the match award, is one of five starters retained. The others are outside centre Canan Moodie, scrum-half Grant Williams, flanker Pieter-Steph du Toit and lock Ruan Nortje. Team (15-1) Aphelele Fassi; Edwill van der Merwe, Canan Moodie, Damian de Allende, Kurt-Lee Arendse; Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Grant Williams; Cobus Wiese, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi (capt); Ruan Nortje, Eben Etzebeth; Neethling Fouche, Marnus van der Merwe, Boan Venter
The 42
03-07-2025
- Sport
- The 42
'It's not going to be perfect, I'm sure there will be plenty of nerves'
PAUL O'CONNELL HAS named a new-look Ireland team for Saturday's Test meeting with Georgia [KO 6pm Irish time, Virgin Media], and while the interim head coach is anticipating a few nerves among the fresher faces in his squad, he's challenged his players to rise to the occasion in Tbilisi. O'Connell has named six uncapped players in his matchday 23. Leinster's Tommy O'Brien is set to win his first cap on the wing while Connacht lock Darragh Murray starts alongside Cormac Izuchukwu in the second row. Munster's Michael Milne, Connacht's Jack Aungier, Munster's Tom Ahern and Connacht scrum-half Ben Murphy are the four uncapped players named on the Ireland bench. O'Connell is head coach for the two-game tour. Ben Brady / INPHO Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO 'The exciting thing for the players is the real challenge of being international rugby players, it's trying to come together on a Monday and trying to be ready to play a Test match with no excuses on the following Saturday,' O'Connell said. 'There's similarities with how we play between all the different provinces so they pick things up pretty quickly, trying to pick up the language, the little nuances of how we make things work is the challenge for a lot of them. 'But they've been very good, and the more experienced guys around the group have been very good with them as well, Craig Casey is able to explain to Tom Ahern that 'this' is the word for 'that' and they get aligned a little bit quicker, so I think the more senior players in the group have been excellent with the younger guys. 'It's been good and it won't be perfect, we're aware of that when we play even with the most experienced internationals in the group, it won't be perfect, so trying to make the players really aware of that as well is important and we just have to crack on.' The group spent two weeks training together in Abbotstown before flying out to Tbilisi on Wednesday, and will follow the Georgia Test with a clash against Portugal in Lisbon seven days later. The Ireland coaches are hoping to give gametime to all 33 squad players across the two games. Advertisement Centre Stuart McCloskey (19 caps), winger Jacob Stockdale (38), scrum-half Craig Casey (18) and flanker Ryan Baird (27) are the more experienced players in the matchday 23, with 11 of the capped squad players yet to hit the 10-cap mark – Jimmy O'Brien (8), Jamie Osborne (7), Sam Prendergast (8), Jack Boyle (2), Gus McCarthy (4), Thomas Clarkson (6), Cormac Izuchukwu (1), Nick Timoney (3), Gavin Coombes (2), Tom Stewart (2), Cian Prendergast (4). Tommy O'Brien is set to debut on the wing. Ben Brady / INPHO Ben Brady / INPHO / INPHO 'As I said it's not going to be perfect, I'm sure there will be plenty of nerves, but that's part of it, you almost have to experience that and go through it a little bit to learn how to guide it out. 'That's why we wanted them in that two-week preparation window, so they really get to learn how to come in, how to learn quickly, how to get aligned quickly, we've spoken to them a lot and a big part of what we do is about the players staying present and not taking mistakes with them. We do a lot of work on that and we speak a lot about that, but ultimately until you're in the middle of it and you're making a mistake and trying to have to figure out how to get out of your own way, it's only by being on the field and experiencing it that you really learn. 'So that's the great thing for this tour. It's so good we've had so many players selected for the Lions, there's another bonus for us in that we get this really tough Test match in a country that are full of confidence in how their rugby is going, so these guys have a real challenge on their hands. It's not a Test match or a game of small significance, it's a really significant Test match where they have to perform. They're going to learn a lot and we'll learn a lot as coaches as well.' Georgia are currently ranked 11th in the world, sandwiched between Italy (10th) and Wales (12th). 'They're an excellent side,' O'Connell added. 'They're a very proud rugby nation but really well coached as well. We know a lot of their coaches, Conor McPhillips, Roddy Grand, I would have learned an awful lot from Roddy Grant when I first came into the job with Ireland, he was working with Ulster at the time and you can see it in how they play, they're very well organised, I suppose a little bit like us, they're quite passionate about what they do and they're able to combine that now with good organisation and really good structure with what they do. 'They've a mixture of players playing in France who bring a real flair to what they do and the Black Lion players have impressed a lot of the coaches as well, the likes of [Mikheil] Babunashvili from a forwards point of view and [Luka] Ivanishvili, these kind of guys that are really tough, well organised, smart rugby players. 'They'd a good autumn, nearly beat Italy, they'd a good summer last year, they put 29 points on Australia down there, didn't beat them, but they beat a Tier 1 nation in Japan and they've been steadily beating Tier 1 nations in the last number of years. So it's a brilliant Test match for our players.'
