PARIS (AP) — South Africa selected Handre Pollard on Thursday to start at flyhalf in the Rugby World Cup final against New Zealand and packed its bench with forwards in a high-risk 7-1 split.
Pollard was promoted from the reserves along with scrumhalf Faf de Klerk - the same halves combination that started in the Springboks' victory in the final four years ago.
The big surprise from Springboks management Rassie Erasmus and Jacques Nienaber was the bench split, with lock Jean Kleyn and No. 8 Jasper Wiese added for an extended “bomb squad” of seven reserve forwards to face the resurgent All Blacks in the first World Cup final between the two fierce rivals since 1995.
South Africa experimented with a then-unprecedented 7-1 split in a warmup game against New Zealand ahead of the Rugby World Cup and won by a record 35-7 against a 14-man All Blacks.
Hooker Bongi Mbonambi was named in the starting lineup and cleared to play after World Rugby said there was insufficient evidence to support an allegation by England's Tom Curry that Mbonambi directed a discriminatory remark at him during South Africa's tense 16-15 win in the semifinals.
Pollard replaced Manie Libbok at No. 10 for the final having recovered from injury and joined the squad midway through the World Cup. He was brought off the bench for Libbok and played a match-winning role in the quarterfinal against France and semifinal against England. De Klerk starts ahead of Cobus Reinach.
South Africa kept four of the five of forwards that were on the bench for the semifinal, with prop Trevor Nyakane in for the injured Vincent Koch in a forced change. The Boks added Kleyn and Wiese. Willie le Roux is the only back in the reserves. That could leave South Africa exposed if it has backline injuries on Saturday at Stade de France as it seeks back-to-back titles to match the feat of the All Blacks in 2011 and 2015.
Whoever wins will clinch a record fourth World Cup title.
“We’ve gone from a 5-3 bench split to a 7-1 split to give us the best chance of being successful,” Springboks coach Nienaber said. "We have plans in place to mitigate for injuries in the backline, but we’re excited about our plan and we embrace the risk.”
“We know we are in for a colossal battle. Every point and inch will count in this match and we know it will take another top-class effort to come out on top on Saturday.”
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South Africa: Damian Willemse, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende, Cheslin Kolbe, Handre Pollard, Faf de Klerk; Duane Vermeulen, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi (captain), Franco Mostert, Eben Etzebeth, Frans Malherbe, Bongi Mbonambi, Steven Kitshoff. Reserves: Deon Fourie, Ox Nche, Trevor Nyakane, Jean Kleyn, RG Snyman, Kwagga Smith, Jasper Wiese, Willie le Roux.
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AP Rugby World Cup: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
