Esterhuizen handed the armband
Rassie Erasmus tore up his teamsheet again. Thirteen changes for Sunday’s one-off Test against the Wallabies in Perth, and the biggest headline sits in the captaincy column: Andre Esterhuizen leads the Springboks for the first time, with Siya Kolisi left out of the matchday 23 entirely.
Zachary Porthen, just 22, gets his third Test start at loosehead. He knows exactly what that means. “This is Test rugby, and everyone who goes out on the field knows that it means a lot to each player,” he said this week. Behind him, three of South Africa’s most capped forwards, Malcolm Marx, Ox Nche and Wilco Louw, wait on the bench instead.
Porthen backed the switch at the top. Esterhuizen has been in prime form at the Sharks this year, and the young prop pointed to the leadership group still standing around him. “He’s definitely the right person. But what helps him, and is great for the team, is having those other leaders,” Porthen said, naming Eben Etzebeth and Franco Mostert as the ones who will keep the dressing room steady.
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Wiese closing in on a half-century
Buried in the reshuffle is a quieter milestone. Jasper Wiese will win his 50th cap for South Africa on Sunday, and Duane Vermeulen, the man whose bench role he took over across long stretches of the past four years, isn’t shy about what that number represents. “It’s a great milestone, and I enjoyed the time when I played with him, and now coaching him,” Vermeulen said.
Vermeulen, now part of the Boks coaching staff, has watched Wiese grow into the ball-carrier South Africa lean on when a game needs simplifying. “He’s your go-to guy if you want to go forward, and he’s really been playing well,” he added, a description that fits a player who has barely missed a major series since his 2021 debut against the Lions.
A different look for a low-stakes Test
None of this changes the maths for Perth. South Africa arrive off the back of a clean sweep over New Zealand, and this rotated group is as much about building depth as protecting bodies before a long season resumes. Wiese’s cap will still count. Esterhuizen’s armband might not last past Sunday. But for a squad already loaded with silverware, both are markers of how far this generation of Springboks has come.
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