Springboks v Wallabies: Teams, kick off time, officials

Springbok fans can look forward to a rare Sunday treat as Rassie Erasmus’ team heading into battle against the Wallabies, which will precede a month-long break before the end-of year.

In the build up to this one-off clash, the Springboks travelled from Terrigal north of Sydney to Perth on Thursday afternoon, and arrived at their base late that evening to a warm welcome from a large group of South African fans.

The team had Friday off to rest and switch into match mode and will wrap up their preparations for the match at their captains run on Saturday.

This Sunday’s match kicks off at 11:45 (SA time) on Sunday and will be broadcast live on SuperSport. Italy’s Andrea Piardi will be the referee and he will be assisted by two New Zealanders, Ben O’Keeffe and James Doleman.

Matteo Liperini (Italy) will be in the TMO booth, while New Zealand’s Richard Kelly will be on Foul Play Review Officer duty.

For this encounter, the Springboks have named a new-look team that will be captained by Andre Esterhuizen, while the Wallabies have named a talented side with a 6-2 split on the bench.

HOW THE SPRINGBOKS AND WALLABIES WILL LINE UP

South Africa: 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 Andre Esterhuizen (captain), 11 Ethan Hooker, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Marco van Staden, 7 Elrigh Louw, 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Zachary Porthen, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Jan-Hendrik Wessels.
Replacements: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Ox Nche, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Lood de Jager, 20 Jasper Wiese, 21 Morne van den Berg, 22 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 23 Quan Horn.

Australia: 15 Tom Wright, 14 Max Jorgensen, 13 Len Ikitau, 12 Hunter Paisami, 11 Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, 10 Ben Donaldson, 9 Ryan Lonergan, 8 Harry Wilson (captain), 7 Fraser McReight, 6 Rob Valetini, 5 Jeremy Williams, 4 Josh Canham, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 2 Brandon Paenga-Amosa, 1 Angus Bell.
Replacements: 16 Billy Pollard, 17 Aidan Ross, 18 Taniela Tupou, 19 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 20 Tom Hooper, 21 Carlo Tizzano, 22 Tate McDermott, 23 Harry Potter.

Date: Sunday, September 27
Venue: Optus Stadium, Perth
Kick-off: 11:45 SAST
Referee: Andrea Piardi (Italy)
Assistant referees: Ben O’Keeffe (New Zealand), James Doleman (New Zealand)
TMO: Matteo Liperini (Italy)

Facts and Stats:

Head-to-head v Australia

Played 97; Won 53; Lost 41; Drawn 3; Points for: 1 975; Points against: 1 732; Tries scored 233; Tries conceded 180; Highest score 61-22 (Pretoria, 1997); Biggest win 45 points (53-8, Johannesburg 2008). Win% 54.6%.

Miscellaneous:

• Andre Esterhuizen will officially become the 68th Springbok captain in history when he leads the team onto the park at the Optus Stadium.
• Eben Etzebeth will extend his record as the most capped Springbok of all time to 147 Test matches.
• Jasper Wiese will earn his 50th Test cap after making his international debut against Georgia at Loftus Versfeld in 2021.
• 2025 World Rugby and SA Rugby Player of the Year Malcom Marx requires only six more appearances after this encounter to join the exclusive club of players to earn 100 Test caps.
• Franco Mostert will play in his first Test since the Castle Lager Outgoing Tour Test against Wales last November.
• South Africa have won five of their last six Test matches against Australia dating back to September 2022. Their only defeat was a 38-22 loss against the Wallabies in Johannesburg during the Castle Lager Rugby Championship last season.
• The Springboks have only faced the Wallabies in Perth 10 times in history – the last of which was in 2024 when the Boks won by 30-12 – with both sides winning four matches each, and the two other matches finishing in a draw.
• The total Test caps for the Springbok starting line-up are 527.
• There are 210 caps in the backline, with 317 caps amongst the forwards. On the bench, there are a further 342 caps.
• The average caps per player in the backline are 30, the forwards 40, while the players on the bench average 43.