Kriel to captain the Boks as Kolisi sustains injury and Marco van Staden called up

Jesse Kriel takes on the role as Springbok captain against the Barbarians in the Qatar Airways Cup at the DHL Stadium this Saturday, following a late team change by Rassie Erasmus due to a minor injury to Siya Kolisi.

Marco van Staden has been called up to the squad and placed in the starting lineup to replace Kolisi and will join forces with the likes of Vincent Tshituka and Jean-Luc du Preez in the front row, however, the rest of the team remains the same.

This will be Kriel's first time as Springbok Captain. He made his Springbok debut in 2015 and has played in 79 Tests.

Springbok team to face the Barbarians in Cape Town:

15 Aphelele Fassi (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 11 caps, 35 points (7t)

14 Cheslin Kolbe (Tokyo Sungoliath) – 40 caps, 111 points (18t, 3c, 5p)

13 Jesse Kriel (captain, Canon Eagles) – 79 caps, 90 points (18t)

12 Damian de Allende (Wild Knights) – 87 caps, 55 points (11t)

11 Kurt-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls) – 24 caps, 90 points (18t)

10 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu (DHL Stormers) – 8 caps, 52 points (14c, 48p)

9 Morne van den Berg (Emirates Lions) – 2 caps, 0 points

8 Jean-Luc du Preez (Sale Sharks) – 14 caps 10 points (2t)

7 Vincent Tshituka (Hollywoodbets Sharks) - uncapped

6 Marco van Staden (Vodacom Bulls) – 25 caps, 10 points (2t)

5 Lood de Jager (Wild Knights) – 66 caps, 25 points (5t)

4 Jean Kleyn (Munster) – 7 caps, 0 points

3 Asenathi Ntlabakanye (Emirates Lions) – uncapped

2 Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) – 76 caps, 105 points (21t)

1 Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 39 caps, 0 points

Replacements:

16 Marnus van der Merwe (Scarlets) - uncapped

17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels (Vodacom Bulls) – 3 caps, 5 points (1t)

18 Neethling Fouche (DHL Stormers) - uncapped

19 Franco Mostert (Honda Heat) – 78 caps, 20 points (4t)

20 Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs) – 51 caps, 45 points (9t)

21 Cobus Reinach (Montpellier) – 39 caps, 70 pts (14t)

22 Manie Libbok (DHL Stormers) – 19 caps, 98 pts (1t, 30c, 11p)

23 Andre Esterhuizen (Hollywoodbets Sharks) – 19 caps, 0 points