PRETORIA, South Africa (AP) — South Africa will start an entire XV of Rugby World Cup champions against Ireland in the first test on Saturday at Loftus Versfeld.
The Springboks picked 20 of the matchday 23 from their World Cup squad in France late last year.
After beating Wales 41-13 in London 10 days ago, a game outside the World Rugby test window, the Springboks have brought straight into their side captain Siya Kolisi and backs Handre Pollard, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Cheslin Kolbe and Willie le Roux.
Also, Leinster lock RG Snyman and Bulls flanker Marco van Staden have gone into the reserves.
Twelve of the XV started in the World Cup final win against New Zealand. Prop Ox Nche, No. 8 Kwagga Smith and le Roux came off the bench.
The only non-World Cup players were Bulls prop Gerhard Steenekamp, and Stormers lock Salmaan Moerat and utility back Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu. Steenekamp's only cap was last August off the bench against Argentina, and Feinberg-Mngomezulu made his debut against Wales.
The starting lineup has 966 caps, the second most experienced for South Africa after the 987-capped side for the World Cup final.
“This is the team we believe will give us the impetus we need against Ireland, who are the second highest ranked team in the world,” Erasmus said on Tuesday.
"We are blessed to have a lot of depth in our squad, and we are in a fortunate position to have several Rugby World Cup winners in our ranks who know what it takes to perform at the highest level.
“The fact that most of these guys have played together is a bonus for us, and most of them have faced Ireland before, so they are well aware of the challenge that lies ahead, especially since we haven't beaten them since 2016.”
Ireland was the only team to beat South Africa at the World Cup, a 13-8 pool-stage thriller at the Stade de France. Ireland has since retained the Six Nations title. It has a second test against South Africa next week in Durban.
South Africa: Willie le Roux, Cheslin Kolbe, Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende, Kurt-Lee Arendse, Handré Pollard. Faf de Klerk; Kwagga Smith, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi (captain), Franco Mostert, Eben Etzebeth, Frans Malherbe, Bongi Mbonambi, Ox Nche. Reserves: Malcolm Marx, Gerhard Steenekamp, Vincent Koch, Salmaan Moerat, RG Snyman, Marco van Staden, Grant Williams, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
FILE - South Africa's Siya Kolisi tries to charge down a kick from France's Antoine Dupont during the Rugby World Cup quarterfinal match between France and South Africa at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, near Paris Sunday, Oct. 15, 2023. South Africa will start an entire XV of Rugby World Cup champions against Ireland in the first test on Saturday July 6, 2024 at Loftus Versfeld. (AP Photo/Thibault Camus, File)
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Haitian Prime Minister Garry Conille told the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday that recently deployed Kenyan police will be crucial to helping control the country’s gangs and moving toward democratic elections — and he called feedback from their initial days in the capital “extremely, extremely positive.”
He said his government will focus on addressing gang violence and food insecurity, ensuring free elections through constitutional and political reform, and rebuilding public trust in the police.
On June 25, the initial contingent of 200 Kenyan police arrived in Port-au-Prince. Kenya has pledged 1,000 police to the international police force and Conille said the next contingent will be arriving “very soon.” They will later be joined by police from the Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Benin, Chad and Jamaica in the force that will total 2,500 personnel.
Haiti asked for an international force to combat gangs in 2022, and U.N. Secretary-General António Guterres appealed for months for a country to lead the force before the Kenyans came forward.
The gangs have grown in power since the July 7, 2021, assassination of President Jovenel Moïse and are now estimated to control up to 80% of the capital. The surge in killings, rapes and kidnappings has led to a violent uprising by civilian vigilante groups.
Conille, a former U.N. development specialist, took up his post as prime minister last month after being voted in by a transitional council.
With the help of the international police force, Conille is tasked with stabilizing the country in preparation for democratic elections in February 2026.
“More than ever Haiti must mobilize all the necessary and available resources to make this transition the last one, a transition that could set it on the path toward peace, security and sustainable development,” Conille told the council.
He said Haiti intends to “redefine our approaches” to build “strong and effective institutions” by the time the police leave Haiti.
Since its arrival, the Kenyan police contingent has held “operational meetings” with the national police and started “joint operations” for the mission, Kenya’s U.N. Ambassador Njambi Kinyungu said.
In February, gangs launched coordinated attacks on government infrastructure, including roads, prisons, and the Port-au-Prince airport, eventually leading Prime Minister Ariel Henry to resign in April.
The violence has resulted in the displacement of 580,000 people, more than half of whom are children, according to the U.N. children’s agency, UNICEF. The World Food Program reports that more than 4 million Haitians face food insecurity.
Conille called the country’s history of foreign intervention a “mixed bag” that has included human rights abuses and a “lack of respect for sovereignty and local culture.”
“Haiti must escape the spiral of security missions once and for all,” the prime minister said.
Conille said the international police force will require “close coordination and constant communication between all the parties involved to ensure the mistakes of the past are not repeated.”
U.N. Special Representative for Haiti María Isabel Salvador urged the international community to contribute to the fund financing the police operation.
Kenya’s Kinyungu and Foreign Minister Roberto Álvarez Gil of the Dominican Republic, which shares the island of Hispaniola with Haiti, also called for countries that have made pledges to the fund to deposit the money. Álvarez Gil said this should be done “as soon as possible.”
The United States pledged $309 million to the police mission, the largest contribution of any country. Kinyungu said Kenya is “working closely with the United States” to distribute supplies in Haiti, but the U.S. funding has not yet arrived.
At the council meeting, Russian Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia criticized the U.S. for failing to prevent arms smuggling to Haiti’s gangs.
“We do not see the current embargo doing anything to prevent the flow of arms from the U.S.,” Nebenzia said. “If it wished to do so, Washington could have long tackled this problem.”
Earlier, U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said that the United States is “concerned about the illicit flow of arms into Haiti” and is “actively working to enforce the arms embargo.”
Edith M. Lederer contributed to this report from the United Nations.
Kenyan police patrol the area near the international airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
A Kenyan police officer patrols the area near the international airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
A Kenyan police officer patrols an area near the international airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
Pedestrians cross a street as Kenyan police officers patrol an area near the international airport, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
Kenyan police officers patrol an area near the international airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
A Kenyan police officer takes candid photos of a group of Haitians welcoming the officers, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
Kenyan and Haitian police patrol an area near the international airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
A Kenyan police officer takes candid photos as Haitian and Kenyan police chat with each other at the entrance gate to the General Directorate of Police, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
Kenyan police patrol an area near the international airport as a man holds a sign with a welcome message and a plea for jobs, in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
A Kenyan police officer patros an area near the international airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Wednesday, July 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph)
