The Springboks have named their team for Sunday's important Pool B game against Tonga at the Rugby World Cup in France.

The seasoned Handre Pollard has been named at flyhalf and he will form the halfback combination with Cobus Reinach.

Willie le Roux returns to start at fullback, while Grant Williams and Makazole Mapimpi are on the wing.

Upfront, Jasper Wiese will start at 8th-man, while in an interesting move, Duane Vermeulen will play on the openside flank.

Marvin Orie and Eben Etzebeth will start in the second row, while in the front row, Vincent Kock returns from injury to play at tighthead prop for his first start.

Deon Fourie will start at hooker, while Marco van Staden has been named as the backup hooker on the bench.

Manie Libbok who has been struggling with the kicking duties has been named on the bench as well.

Pollard hasn’t played for the Springboks since last year’s Rugby Championship game against the Wallabies in Adelaide, and he has just played for 40 minutes in recent times.

The Bok coach, Jacques Nienaber, believes that Pollard’s experience will make his return to the field a lot easier, but they have to be realistic about the expectations of the pivot.

“What do I expect of him? A realistic performance,” said Nienaber.

“I think that’s where we must all stay in the reality of it. He hasn’t played for the Boks in 13 months - he last played in the last week in August 2022 for the Springboks.

“He hasn’t played top-level rugby since the first week in May, which is 19 weeks ago. In saying that, he’s a quality rugby player and we all know that. He’s won a World Cup before, he’s won a British & Irish Lions series before.

“So he understands what international rugby and top international rugby is about, but I think we must stay real in that and give him time to settle in and get used to the pace of it.”

Kwagga Smith - Getty

The Boks and Tonga don’t play that often, but one thing that is a given is that Sunday’s Test will be physical and the Pacific Islanders will want to prove a point.

The Tongans have never beaten the Springboks before, but they will be up for the fight.

The Springbok flanker, Kwagga Smith, who will play off the bench, said it will be physical but to man-up to the challenge and back their defence, while also playing as a team, and the same intensity in the Ireland game will be important

“When number one and two play each other, the intensity is really going to be high and the crowd were amazing.

“It was great playing there, but for us it’s to keep that standard and to have that intensity in every game we play. We’ll need that intensity this weekend against Tonga. Tonga is a physical side and they’re really hard players to play against so we’ve got to be ready.

“We know we need to get those five points, so we will go into that game with the mindset of getting a bonus point. For us also, they’re a physical team so to play against them will be great for us to know that our physicality is also at the highest level.”

Sunday’s must-win game at the Stade Velodrome in Marseille kicks off at 21:00.

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Meanwhile, on Wednesday night in Lyon the Los Teros of Uruguay beat a 14-man Namibia 36-26 for their first win at the World Cup, while the Welwitschias tournament ended with four straight defeats.

On Thursday at 21:00 Japan will be in action against Manu Samoa in Toulouse.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport