Reviewed by Shihaam IsaacsSouth Africa sports betting writer
Published 20 September 2026 · Updated 26 September 2026
Andre Esterhuizen captains South Africa against Australia at Optus Stadium in Perth on 27 September, in a side Rassie Erasmus has changed in thirteen places. Pieter-Steph du Toit and Damian de Allende were sent home from the tour before the team was named.
Erasmus named the team on 22 September. Only Eben Etzebeth and Ethan Hooker keep their starting places from the side that beat New Zealand, and Esterhuizen leads a team otherwise rebuilt from the tour party.
Du Toit and de Allende were released from the touring squad earlier in the week. Both started all four matches against New Zealand and both have passed a hundred Test caps.
A series already won
South Africa took the series three Tests to one. The closing match in Baltimore finished 43 points to 28 in the Springboks’ favour and sealed the series, a week after they had gone two Tests to one up at FNB Stadium in Soweto.
Perth is a separate assignment rather than a fifth Test of that series. Australia host the next World Cup, and Erasmus has been clear that the match carries its own weight regardless of what the tourists have already achieved.
What thirteen changes change
Thirteen changes is a different proposition from a rotation note. A side with two players left from the last team sheet has far fewer combinations it has already played, and that tends to show in the first quarter rather than the last.
It also matters for the handicap. A Springbok side rebuilt at the end of a long tour, against a home team building towards a World Cup, is not the one that beat New Zealand three times in a row, and the margin markets are where that gets priced.
Where to bet: Hollywoodbets and Betway, both licensed through provincial gambling boards, price the Perth Test in rand on match result, handicap, total points, winning margin bands and first try scorer, with deposits by Ozow instant EFT, Capitec Pay and OTT Voucher. An early morning kick off in South Africa means the line can move overnight while local punters are asleep, so compare two operators rather than taking the first number you see. Our guide to the best betting sites in South Africa covers licensing and payout times, and there is more in South Africa rugby news from AXN Sports. 18+. Gamble responsibly.
