The Sydney Morning Herald
· collected 2026-09-25 · by Jonathan Drennan
The article discusses how South Africa's national rugby team, the Springboks, has evolved since their World Cup victory in 1995 to represent a more inclusive and diverse South Africa. It highlights individual players like Jasper Wiese, Ox Nche, and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, who come from varied backgrounds across the country. The piece also includes reflections from Morne Du Plessis, former captain and team manager, on how rugby has served as a catalyst for social unity in South Africa following apartheid.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-26,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
On Sunday, September 27, Australia will host South Africa at Perth Stadium in a one-off rugby test. The Wallabies enter this match unbeaten in their last five Test matches with four wins and one draw but face a formidable opponent in the reigning world champions. Coach Les Kiss has made significant changes to the lineup by shifting star player Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii from his usual position to play on the left wing, allowing Len Ikitau to return to outside center for the first time since November 2024.
Meanwhile, South Africa's team features numerous alterations following their dominant series win over New Zealand. Only two players—lock Eben Etzebeth and winger Ethan Hooker—are retaining their starting positions from that series finale in Baltimore. The Springboks’ bench is packed with world-class talent capable of turning the tide of the match, including Jasper Wiese and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
Despite these changes, South Africa's depth remains a significant advantage, particularly given the potential impact of their powerful reserve players who can disrupt fatigued opponents. The match promises to be an exciting contest between two strong teams with contrasting strategies and player dynamics. Perth, known for its large expatriate South African community, is expected to see another enthusiastic turnout at the stadium.
Written for “Rugby Test Between Australia And Sout…” on 2026-10-05,
grounded in this article and the 15 other(s) covering the same event.
The Springboks’ bench named to face the Wallabies in Perth on Sunday night is largely defined by its ability to change a game at will.
asserted
bench → name → will
It has eight world-class players who have the potential to dominate fatigued opponents with both speed and strength.
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who → have → speed
Those players also tell the story of the modern South Africa they represent.
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they → tell → Africa
Back-rower Jasper Wiese grew up on a remote Northern Cape farm, his junior school too small to field a rugby team.
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school → grow → team
Prop Ox Nche was born in the Free State town of Thaba ’Nchu, where organised sport was a luxury few could access.
uncertain
few → bear → Nchu
Playmaker Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu was born in Cape Town to Nick Feinberg, the son of a white anti-apartheid campaigner, and Makhosazana Mngomezulu, a lawyer of Zulu descent.
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Mngomezulu → bear → descent
Every player who represents the Springboks carries the legacy of the 1995 World Cup final win.
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who → represent → win
That victory gave a glimpse into what was possible for South Africa as a society, but also highlighted the huge amount of work still to do in a country that had recently emerged from the horrors of apartheid.
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that → give → apartheid
Morne Du Plessis is one of South African rugby’s greatest captains, leading the Springboks to 13 wins in 15 Tests from 1975 to 1980.
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Plessis → lead → 1980
He was able to see both sides of South African rugby – the one that was closed to the majority of the country and the one that started to open up.
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that → see → country
“Before ’95, we were deeply divided [as a country]; a minority of people would support the Springboks in those years that I played, and let’s be frank about that,” Du Plessis said.
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Plessis → divide → that
“And the World Cup win of ’95, I’d like to believe, was a catalyst for change.
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I → like → change
Mandela, himself agreeing to continue with the Springbok emblem and the Springbok jersey, was pivotal as well.
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himself → agree → emblem
“Mandela had the foresight that rugby, being what it was and where it came from, could be a catalyst in pulling people together.”
uncertain
it → have → people
The South Africa side that beat New Zealand in the 1995 final contained only one non-white player: the late Chester Williams, who started on the left wing.
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who → beat → wing
Du Plessis knew more work needed to be done before the Springboks would be embraced by the entire nation.
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Springboks → know → nation
He has watched as the momentum lost after 1995 was regained with the emergence of coach Rassie Erasmus, his captain Siya Kolisi and an all-conquering team.
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momentum → watch → Erasmus
“I played in the apartheid days, and I was the manager in ’95
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I → play → 95
, so I saw both sides.
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I → see → sides
I was privileged to see the new dawn, as it were,” Du Plessis said.
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Plessis → see → dawn
“From then on, it lost a little bit of momentum because there weren’t standout opportunities again like that.
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it → lose → that
But then came Rassie and Siya, and they’ve taken that unifying ability of rugby to another level.
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they → come → level
Erasmus grew up in the working-class Eastern Cape town of Despatch, completing his compulsory military service in 1991.
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Erasmus → grow → 1991
That same year, Kolisi was born in the Port Elizabeth township of Zwide.
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Kolisi → bear → Zwide
They came from entirely different worlds, but in 2018 Erasmus named Kolisi as the first black captain of the Springboks, a move that helped the team attract widespread support.
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team → come → support
Many black players selected in the Test after 1995 were unfairly scrutinised, in some cases being made to feel unwelcome.
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players → select → cases
But the appointment of Kolisi as captain by Erasmus, a former Afrikaner Springbok, carried huge weight and opened the eyes of many non-white South Africans to possibilities in the game they hadn’t previously imagined.
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they → carry → game
“For many years, transformation – meaning giving everybody a fair chance of coming through the system and making it to the top – was seen by many people, whether they’d admit it or not, as a sort of punishment, a payback, something we have to go through for a while,” rugby commentator John Robbie said.
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Robbie → mean → while
“There was this dreadful phrase of ‘quota players’, where you had guys who many from the white community [in South Africa] said were not good enough and the [non-white] players themselves would say, ‘no one takes us seriously.’
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one → be → us
“That doesn’t happen any more ...
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That → happen → ?
what Rassie has done is seen beyond that prism of biases.
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done → do → biases
He’s seen this massive number of people, the potential in a community that never got the chance before.
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that → see → chance
And the answer is what we see on the field.
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we → see → field
If you drive through South Africa, you get an idea of the power of the Springboks and how the whole country embraces them as a team.
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country → drive → team
Winning two World Cups in a row, of course, helps, but representation helps the support to endure.
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support → win → course
In the townships, the suburbs, the city centres and throughout farmland, you see Springbok jerseys.
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you → see → jerseys
Bob Skinstad played 42 times for South Africa and was part of the 2007 World Cup-winning squad.
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Skinstad → play → squad
He made his Test debut in 1997 and competed directly with Erasmus as a player, before watching him take the team to World Cup wins in 2019 and 2023.
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him → make → 2019
Skinstad sees the impact of Kolisi’s leadership of the Springboks within his own family; the back-rower has become a hero to the nation.
“
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rower → see → nation
My young 12-year-old son doesn’t want to be Bob Skinstad, he wants to be Siya Kolisi and many years ago that wouldn’t have been true, because there would have been a racial divide between what children wanted to be,” Skinstad said.
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Skinstad → want → what
…and 13 more, not listed.
The Aporia
