The Springboks have opted for continuity for their Rugby World Cup semi-final against England in Paris on Saturday.

This despite hinting the entire week that there will be changes, however, if the squad is full fit, there should be no reason to change. The team worked well as a unit during Sunday’s 29-28 quarter-final win against France in Paris.

Manie Libbok once again starts at flyhalf, while the seasoned Handré Pollard will do duty off the bench. Cobus Reinach earns a rare back-to-back start at scrumhalf.

Despite being battered and bruised after the French game, Jesse Kriel, is rewarded with his outstanding game at outside centre with another start in the role, and this while the Boks also having Lukhanyo Am and Canan Moodie to play in the midfield.

Upfront, the veteran Duane Vermeulen starts at 8th-man against, while Pieter-Steph du Toit and the captain Siya Kolisi complete the back row.

Eben Etzebeth and Franco Mostert will pack down at lock again, with Frans Malherbe, Bongi Mbonambi and Steven Kitshoff starting in the front row.

The Springbok squad, Jacques Nienaber, said there is good competition within the squad  and he believes that his team has the necessary experience to win a semi-final.

“We’ve been building a quality Rugby World Cup squad for the last few years so that we could be in this position going into the knockout matches,” said Nienaber.

“We have a squad of 33 players, all of whom are very closely matched in terms of their skill and quality of play which made it tempting to make changes this week and it was tough to select this group both last week and this week. But we feel it’s now time to go with the players in the squad who we believe are in their best form.”

“This may not have much significance, but the fact remains that these players have been here before, and they know what it will take to defeat a top-quality team such as England,” said Nienaber.

“Competition for places in the team is very tight and the coaches had a few in depth discussions before finalising the team.

“We have players like Lukhanyo Am, Canan Moodie, Andre Esterhuizen, Jasper Wiese, Jean Kleyn, and the list goes on, who are all good enough to be in this team and would have fitted in and done the job just well as the other players.

“But we can only select 23 and everyone in this group is aligned and understands that the country comes first.”

Saturday’s big semi-final between the Springboks and England at Stade de France in Paris kicks off at 21:00.

Springboks - 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Cheslin Kolbe, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bongi Mbonambi, 1 Steven Kitshoff

Replacements – 16 Deon Fourie, 17 Ox Nche, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Faf de Klerk, 22 Handré Pollard, 23 Willie le Roux

England - 15 Freddie Steward, 14 Jonny May, 13 Joe Marchant, 12 Manu Tuilagi, 11 Elliot Daly, 10 Owen Farrell (captain), 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Ben Earl, 7 Tom Curry, 6 Courtney Lawes, 5 George Martin, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Dan Cole, 2 Jamie George, 1 Joe Marler

Replacements - 16 Theo Dan, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 Kyle Sinckler, 19 Ollie Chessum, 20 Billy Vunipola, 21 Danny Care, 22 George Ford, 23 Ollie Lawrence

Morgan Piek OFM Sport