PERTH, Australia (AP) — Australia head coach Joe Schmidt has recalled 59-test veteran Marika Koroibete to the starting side in a revamped team to face South Africa on Saturday in the second Rugby Championship match for both teams.
South Africa outclassed the Wallabies 33-7 last Saturday in Brisbane to hand Australia its first loss of the season after three wins.
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PERTH, Australia (AP) — Australia head coach Joe Schmidt has recalled 59-test veteran Marika Koroibete to the starting side in a revamped team to face South Africa on Saturday in the second Rugby Championship match for both teams.
South Africa's Kwagga Smith, center, celebrates with teammate South Africa's Salmaan Moerat after scoring a try against Australia during their rugby union test match in Brisbane, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Tertius Pickard)
South Africa's Pieter-Steph du Toit, right, is tackled by Australia's Len Ikiau during their rugby union test match in Brisbane, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Tertius Pickard)
South Africa's Elrigh Louw , third right, is tackled by Australia's Harry Wilson during their rugby union test match in Brisbane, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Tertius Pickard)
Australia's Harry Wilson rubs his head after his team lost to South Africa in their rugby union test match in Brisbane, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Tertius Pickard)
Koroibete was named on Thursday in the back three alongside Andrew Kellaway and Tom Wright for his first appearance since the 2023 Rugby World Cup. Schmidt also named Western Force scrum-half Nic White for his first start of the year.
“There’s some continuity and freshness in this team after a very physical test last weekend,” Schmidt said in a statement. “The players have rolled up their sleeves and worked hard again this week. The reality is that we need to be more combative and accurate this Saturday.”
Scrumhalf Morne van den Berg and lock Ruan Nortje are expected to earn their first test starts in a South Africa team with 10 changes announced Wednesday for the Perth match. Salmaan Moerat will captain the 2023 World Cup champions from lock while regular captain Siya Kolisi was one of nine players from last Saturday’s win over the Wallabies at Brisbane who has been rotated in the squad.
Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus says the reason for the wholesale changes was a desire to expand his squad's depth.
“We made it clear from the outset this season that one of our main goals is to build squad depth with an eye on the next Rugby World Cup here in Australia, and we feel there is no better way to test some of the younger players and assess where we are as a group against a top-tier nation, especially away from home, in this match,” Erasmus said.
Australia: Tom Wright, Andrew Kellaway, Len Ikitau, Hunter Paisami, Marika Koroibete, Noah Lolesio, Nic White, Harry Wilson, Carlo Tizzano, Rob Valetini, Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, Angus Blyth, Allan Ala'alatoa (captain), Josh Nasser, Angus Bell. Reserves: Billy Pollard, James Slipper, Zane Nonggorr, Tom Hooper, Sere Uru, Tate McDermott, Ben Donaldson, Max Jorgensen.
South Africa: Aphelele Fassi, Cheslin Kolbe, Jesse Kriel, Lukhanyo Am, Makazole Mapimpi, Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Morne van den Berg, Elrigh Louw, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Marco van Staden, Ruan Nortje, Salmaan Moerat (captain), Thomas du Toit, Johan Grobbelaar, Jan-Hendrik Wessels; Reserves: Malcolm Marx, Ox Nche, Vincent Koch, Eben Etzebeth, Kwagga Smith, Grant Williams, Manie Libbok, Handre Pollard.
AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
Australia's Tom Wright, right, and teammate Noah Lolesio collide while collecting a loose ball during their rugby union test match against South Africa in Brisbane, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Tertius Pickard)
South Africa's Kwagga Smith, center, celebrates with teammate South Africa's Salmaan Moerat after scoring a try against Australia during their rugby union test match in Brisbane, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Tertius Pickard)
South Africa's Pieter-Steph du Toit, right, is tackled by Australia's Len Ikiau during their rugby union test match in Brisbane, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Tertius Pickard)
South Africa's Elrigh Louw , third right, is tackled by Australia's Harry Wilson during their rugby union test match in Brisbane, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Tertius Pickard)
Australia's Harry Wilson rubs his head after his team lost to South Africa in their rugby union test match in Brisbane, Saturday, Aug. 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Tertius Pickard)
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — A Philippine televangelist, who calls himself the “anointed son of God” and once claimed to have stopped an earthquake, pleaded not guilty Friday to charges of abuse of minors and human trafficking in a court arraignment that's the latest mark of his reversal of fortune.
Apollo Carreon Quiboloy and four of his co-accused were brought under heavy security to the regional trial court in Pasig city in metropolitan Manila for the human trafficking charges and was later arraigned by video from police detention by another court handling a separate non-bailable case of child abuse.
Lawyer Israelito Torreon told reporters his client Quiboloy entered not guilty pleas before the two courts because he's innocent of the charges. Quiboloy, 74, also asked the court to allow him to be detained in a hospital due to unspecified illnesses but no immediate decision was made.
Quiboloy, the preacher and founder of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ group, faces similar charges in the United States, where he has been included in the FBI’s most-wanted list.
The United States was expected to request the extradition of Quiboloy and his co-accused at some point, but President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said they have to first face justice in the Philippines. Quiboloy surrendered in his vast religious complex in the south Sunday in an operation involving more than 2,000 police officers.
In his heyday, Quiboloy was one of the most influential religious leaders in the Philippines with many followers and was regarded a political kingmaker, who backed the equally controversial former President Rodrigo Duterte.
Quiboloy and his co-defendants have been accused of recruiting young followers, who were lured to submit themselves to the “divine will” and promised scholarships and foreign travels but later forced to solicit money in spurious ways including house-to-house Christmas caroling and peddling pastries and biscuits.
The victims were threatened and beaten when they failed to reach collection quotas and defy orders, according to the charge sheet.
More alarmingly, Quiboloy and his key aides were accused of deceiving Filipino and foreign girls as young as 12 to serve as privileged “pastorals,” who were ordered to give Quiboloy a massage in his bedroom before they were raped by him. Some of the alleged victims testified in a Philippine Senate hearing earlier this year on Quiboloy’s alleged crimes, including a woman from Ukraine who testified by video because of the war in her country.
Quiboloy and his co-accused and their lawyers have denied any wrongdoing. They said they were ready to answer the charges in court. The raft of allegations, they said, was fabricated by critics and former members who were removed from his religious group.
After Quiboloy surrendered and taken into police custody in his 30-hectare (75-acre) religious complex in southern Davao city over the weekend, police said at least five other religious followers may file criminal complaints and testify against him.
Interior Secretary Benhur Abalos said Quiboloy had in effect used religion as a cover for criminality. "This is one of the most extreme evils because faith is something sacred,” he told The Associated Press.
Quiboloy has made outrageous claims that sparked questions about his character but endeared him to his fanatical followers. In 2019, he claimed that he stopped a major earthquake from hitting the southern Philippines.
In the U.S., federal prosecutors announced charges against Quiboloy in 2021 for allegedly having sex with women and underage girls who faced threats of abuse and “eternal damnation” unless they catered to the self-proclaimed “son of God.” The allegations were made by former followers of Quiboloy.
The expanded indictment included charges of conspiracy, sex trafficking of children, sex trafficking by force, fraud, money laundering and visa fraud.
Quiboloy and eight other defendants were accused of recruiting women and girls, typically 12 to 25 years old, as “pastorals,” who cooked his meals, cleaned his houses, massaged him and traveled with him around the world. Minors as young as 15 were scheduled for “night duty,” when they were sexually abused by Quiboloy, according to the indictment.
Apollo Carreon Quiboloy, center, wearing a helmet and flak jacket, a Filipino preacher charged with human trafficking, leaves the Pasig Regional Trial Court in Pasig City, Philippines, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerard Carreon)
People, in green helmet, charged with human trafficking, leave the Pasig Regional Trial Court, walking after Apollo Carreon Quiboloy, a Filipino preacher, in Pasig City, Philippines, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerard Carreon)
People, in green helmet, charged with human trafficking, enter the Pasig Regional Trial Court, walking after Apollo Carreon Quiboloy, a Filipino preacher, in Pasig City, Philippines, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerard Carreon)
Apollo Carreon Quiboloy, wearing a helmet and flak jacket, a Filipino preacher charged with human trafficking, enters the Pasig Regional Trial Court in Pasig City, Philippines, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerard Carreon)
Apollo Carreon Quiboloy, wearing a helmet and flak jacket, a Filipino preacher charged with human trafficking, leaves the Pasig Regional Trial Court in Pasig City, Philippines, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerard Carreon)
Apollo Carreon Quiboloy, wearing a helmet and flak jacket, a Filipino preacher charged with human trafficking, enters the Pasig Regional Trial Court in Pasig City, Philippines, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerard Carreon)
Apollo Carreon Quiboloy, wearing a helmet and flak jacket, a Filipino preacher charged with human trafficking, arrives at the Pasig Regional Trial Court in Pasig City, Philippines, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerard Carreon)
Apollo Carreon Quiboloy, wearing a helmet and flak jacket, a Filipino preacher charged with human trafficking, enters the Pasig Regional Trial Court in Pasig City, Philippines, Friday, Sept. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Gerard Carreon)
