October 5, 2015
Rugby World Cup Lineups: South Africa v United States
Doug Coil
October 7, 2015
South Africa v United States, Pool B, The Stadium, Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, London, Kick off 16:45 – 11:45am ET
Referee: Pascal Gauzere; Assistant Referee: Nigel Owens, Mike Fraser; TV Match Official: George Ayoub
The Springboks have made two changes to the starting line-up that defeated Scotland. Frans Malherbe will start at tight-head prop and Lwazi Mvovo comes in at wing.
Schalk Burger will make his 17th appearance in a World Cup match, which equals a team record. Fourie du Preez will captain the Springboks for the second time, the first the previous match against Scotland.
Morné Steyn, the team’s leading World Cup scorer in 2011, is on the 23 man roster as a reserve. Rudy Paige can make both his test and RWC debut if he enters the match.
South Africa lineup shows the intent to take care of business. That is winning the Pool and advancing to the Quarterfinals. A bonus point win will accomplish both goals.
USA Eagles Coach Mike Tolkin has made 12 changes to the starting line-up that lost to Scotland. Only Phil Thiel, Samu Manoa and Blaine Scully remain as starters. Samu Manoa will captain the side.
The roster includes five players who will be playing for the first time at the Rugby World Cup 2015, Louis Stanfill, Matthew Trouville, Niku Kruger, Zach Test and Andrew Suniula. Two others could play, Joe Taufetee and Mate Moeakiola, as they are reserves.
Lou Stanfill will be playing in his third Wold Cup, while Mate Moeakiola could also if he enters the match.
In a USA Rugby article published earlier today by Chad Wise, Mike Tolkin indicates that “Niku will be thrilled to be in his first Rugby World Cup match and playing against South Africa. He is a young man with a lot of potential and it is great that our young talent is getting an opportunity to play and gain valuable experience.”
Niku will team up with flyhalf, Shalom Suniula.
The forwards will be lead by Samu Manoa, who plays for Toulon. Danny Barrett and John Quill will join him in the backrow as Flankers. Lou Stanfill and Matt Trouville compliment each other as Locks, as they regularly play together for the Seattle Saracens. The front row of Chris Baumann and Olive Kilifi are well rested and along with Phil Thiel are experienced players.
The side also has its Eagles 7s players in the backs. Folau Niua, Brett Thompson and Zack Test should add a flair in attack, while both Andrew Suniula and Blaine Scully are both experienced professionals.
Entering this match, it is still possible for the Eagles to qualify for the Quarterfinals. It would take two bonus point wins against both South Africa and Japan along with a non bonus point loss by Scotland. should the USA finish in third place in the Pool, they would automatically qualify for the 2019 Rugby World Cup in Japan.
The USA battled against both Samoa and Scotland and expect to do so against South Africa Wednesday and Japan on Sunday. They are not favored in either match, but did win against Japan in the Pacific Nations Cup. I expect that they will perform well and make themselves and the United States proud.
The Wednesday match will be televised live by Universal Sports at Noon ET.
South Africa Ranked 5th: HC Heyneke Meyer Starters: 1. Tendai Mtawarira 2. Bismarck Du Plessis 3. Frans Malherbe 4. Eben Etzebeth 5. Lodewyk De Jager 6. Francois Louw 7. Schalk Burger 8. Duane Vermeulen 9. Fourie Du Preez (c) 10. Handre Pollard 11. Lwazi Mvovo 12. Damian De Allende 13. Jesse Kriel 14. Bryan Habana 15. Willie Le Roux Replacements: 16. Schalk Brits 17. Trevor Nyakane 18. Coenie Oosthuizen 19. Pieter-Steph Du Toit 20. Willem Alberts 21. Rudy Paige 22. Morne Steyn 23. Jan Serfontein
United States Ranked 16th: HC Mike Tolkin Starters: 1 Oli Kilifi 2 Phil Thiel 3 Chris Baumann 4 Louis Stanfill 5 Matthew Trouville 6 Danny Barrett 7 John Quill 8 Samu Manoa (c) 9 Niku Kruger 10 Shalom Suniula 11 Zach Test 12 Andrew Suniula 13 Folau Niua 14 Brett Thompson 15 Blaine Scully Replacements: 16 Joe Taufetee 17 Zach Fenoglio 18 Mate Moeakiola 19 Titi Lamositele 20 Cam Dolan 21 Al McFarland 22 Mike Petri 23 Chris Wyles
