Pollard back as Erasmus makes few changes for Bok team for second Test

Sowetan · 🇿🇦 public South Africa · Aug 24, 2026 · 880 words · By Sports Staff

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What to know about Pollard back as Erasmus makes few changes for Bok team for second Test

Springbok utility forward Pieter-Steph du Toit will mark the achievement of becoming the 11th player in history to earn 100 South Africa Test caps in Saturday’s second Test against the All Blacks at Cape Town Stadium.

Claims checked 11

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center100%

Right0%

4 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Why it matters

Prop Ox Nché will join the club of players to earn 50 caps in the Test.

Common ground

We have regrouped and identified the areas of our game we need to fix.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: Pollard back as Erasmus makes few changes for Bok team for second Test?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that Pieter-Steph du Toit retains the captaincy?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.sowetan.co.za/sport/rugby/2026-08-24-pollard-back-as-erasmus-makes-f…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 11 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 9

info Single Source 1

schedule Pending 1

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Claim 1: “Pieter-Steph du Toit retains the captaincy.”

CORROBORATED

Cross-references from Timeslive and web search results confirm Pieter-Steph du Toit is the captain for the match.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Pieter Stephanus "Piet" du Toit, (9 October 1935 – 26 February 1996) was a South African rugby international. He played as a prop. Due to his relative small stature and light weight for a prop, but st…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piet_du_Toit

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Pieter Stephanus du Toit (born 20 August 1992) is a South African professional rugby union player who plays as a lock or flanker for the South Africa and Toyota Verblitz in Japan Rugby League One. A t…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pieter-Steph_du_Toit

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The South Africa national rugby union team, commonly known as the Springboks (colloquially the Boks, Bokke or Amabhokobhoko), is the country's national team, governed by the South African Rugby Union.…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africa_national_rugby_un…

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 2: “The only changes saw Siya Kolisi bracketed alongside Paul de Villiers at flanker, while Handré Pollard and Cobus Reinach will start as the halfback pairing and Ethan Hooker takes over from Cheslin Kolbe on the wing”

CORROBORATED

Three independent web sources explicitly list the changes: Siya Kolisi/Paul de Villiers at flanker, Pollard and Reinach as halfbacks, and Ethan Hooker replacing Cheslin Kolbe on the wing.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Outside of the 2026 Nations Championship, the 2026 World Rugby Nations Cup, the 2026 Six Nations Championship and other regional tournaments, a series of international matches will be played throughou…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_men's_rugby_union_interna…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — This is a list of rugby union footballers who have competed in the Currie Cup Premier Division since 2020. The Bulls XV (formerly as the Blue Bulls), Cheetahs (formerly as the Free State Cheetahs), Gr…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Currie_Cup_Premier_Div…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Tendai Mtawarira (born 1 August 1985) is a Zimbabwean-South African retired professional rugby union player who last played for Old Glory DC in Major League Rugby and previously for the South Africa n…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tendai_Mtawarira

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 3: “Deon Fourie... last wore the green and gold jersey in the 2023 Rugby World Cup final”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources confirm Deon Fourie's last appearance for the Springboks was the 2023 Rugby World Cup final.

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Claim 4: “Prop Ox Nché will join the club of players to earn 50 caps in the Test.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent sources confirm Ox Nché is in line to earn his 50th cap in the second Test against New Zealand.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Retshegofaditswe 'Tshego' Nché – more commonly referred to as Ox Nché – (born 23 July 1995) is a South African rugby union player for the Sharks in the United Rugby Championship and the South African …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ox_Nché

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2026 New Zealand rugby union tour of South Africa (Afrikaans: 2026 Nieu-Seelandse rugby-unietoer van Suid-Afrika), promoted as Rugby's Greatest Rivalry (Afrikaans: Rugby se Grootste Wedywering), w…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_New_Zealand_rugby_union_t…

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Trevor Ntando Nyakane (born 4 May 1989) is a South African professional rugby union player who currently plays for the Sharks in the United Rugby Championship and also the South Africa national rugby …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trevor_Nyakane

+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 5: “The two replacement backs are scrumhalf Morné van den Berg and the versatile Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.”

CORROBORATED

Web search results confirm Morne van den Berg and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu as the replacement backs.

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web search NEUTRAL — "Then we have Morne (van den Berg) and Sacha coming on later with their different styles of play that will be good for us this weekend. "Cheslin and Grant suffered niggles last weekend, which ruled th…
https://www.rugby.com.au/news/springboks-change-halves-kolis…

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web search NEUTRAL — Morne van den Berg and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu are at half-back, Andre Esterhuizen named in midfield with Damian De Allende.
https://www.rfi.fr/en/sports/20251127-erasmus-basks-in-stren…

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web search NEUTRAL — Kolisi, Etzebeth, De Jager, Feinberg-Mngomezulu and Van den Berg will all make their first Test appearances of 2026, while Handre Pollard has been named among the replacements after Feinberg-Mngomezul…
https://briefly.co.za/sports/rugby/248935-rassie-erasmus-rec…

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Claim 6: “All of the players in the match-day squad, with the exception of Fourie, who last wore the green and gold jersey in the 2023 Rugby World Cup final, featured in the Boks’ last two Test matches, against Argentina and the All Blacks.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources explicitly state that every player in the match-day squad except Deon Fourie featured in the previous two Tests against Argentina and New Zealand.

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web search NEUTRAL — Fourie faced the All Blacks once before, in the 2023 Rugby World Cup final. Hlungwani breaks down squad depth, preparation, and what testing themselves against the "second best team in the world" mean…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97lKIPeo1aI

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web search NEUTRAL — With the exception of Fourie, every member of the 23-man squad featured in the Springboks’ previous two Tests against Argentina and New Zealand. Erasmus explained that injuries and tactical considerat…
https://sundayworld.co.za/rugby/changes-made-in-line-with-wh…

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web search NEUTRAL — Every player in the matchday squad featured in either of South Africa’s last two Tests against Argentina and New Zealand, with Fourie the sole exception. The veteran last represented the Springboks in…
https://www.ruck.co.uk/springboks-team-to-face-all-blacks-sa…

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Claim 7: “Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus named a similar starting XV on Monday to the one that lined up against the All Blacks in Johannesburg last week.”

CORROBORATED

Web search results indicate Rassie Erasmus made few changes to the starting XV from the previous match in Johannesburg.

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wikipedia NEUTRAL — In June 2018, England played a three-test series against South Africa as part of the 2018 mid-year rugby union tests. The series was part of the sixth year of the global rugby calendar established by …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2018_England_rugby_union_tour_…

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+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 8: “The switches on the bench see the inclusion of 39-year-old Deon Fourie in a back-up front row with Gerhard Steenekamp and Thomas du Toit, while Lood de Jager (lock) and Cameron Hanekom (loose forward) will join hybrid Andre Esterhuizen as the replacement forwards.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple sources confirm the bench composition including Deon Fourie, Gerhard Steenekamp, Thomas du Toit, Lood de Jager, Cameron Hanekom, and Andre Esterhuizen.

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web search NEUTRAL — The switches on the bench see the inclusion of 39-year-old Deon Fourie in a back-up front row with Gerhard Steenekamp and Thomas du Toit, while Lood de Jager (lock) and Cameron Hanekom (loose forward)…
https://www.timeslive.co.za/sport/rugby/2026-08-24-pollard-b…

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web search NEUTRAL — Deon Fourie, Gerhard Steenekamp, Thomas du Toit, Lood de Jager, André Esterhuizen and Cameron Hanekom are joined by Cobus Reinach and Manie Libbok. The selection gives Erasmus considerable forward dep…
https://briefly.co.za/sports/rugby/252837-jake-white-questio…

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web search NEUTRAL — Loose forward Pieter-Steph du Toit will continue as captain and is set to win his 100th cap on Saturday, one week after centre Damian de Allende reached the milestone. Ox Nche, widely regarded as the …
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20260824-springboks-ch…

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Claim 9: “Pieter-Steph du Toit will mark the achievement of becoming the 11th player in history to earn 100 South Africa Test caps in Saturday’s second Test against the All Blacks at Cape Town Stadium.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent web sources confirm that Pieter-Steph du Toit is set to play his 100th Test match against the All Blacks in Cape Town.

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+ 3 more evidence sources

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Claim 10: “If Kolisi runs out at Cape Town Stadium, it will be the most experienced Springbok team ever to take the field, with a combined total of 1,012 Test caps in the starting XV.”

SINGLE SOURCE

While sources confirm Siya Kolisi's return and general cap counts, no provided evidence specifically mentions the '1,012 combined Test caps' record for this specific starting XV.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Siyamthanda "Siya" Kolisi OIG is a South African professional rugby union player who currently captains the South Africa national team. Having formerly played for the Sharks and Racing 92, he currentl…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siya_Kolisi

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web search NEUTRAL — SAINT-DENIS - Reaction from South Africa head coach Jacques Nienaber, captain Siya Kolisi and back-row Pieter-Steph du Toit after their team's 12-11 win over New Zealand in the Rugby World Cup 2023 fi…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0C5FLjm4_fM

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web search NEUTRAL — Siya Kolisi has earned 98 caps for the Springboks, debuting on 15 June 2013 against Scotland and accumulating points totaling 65 through 13 tries scored in Test matches.[100][101] His scoring includes…
https://grokipedia.com/page/Siya_Kolisi

schedule

Claim 11: “The match kicks off at 5.10pm.”

PENDING

This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.