Bok team to play Argentina

The Bok team to play Argentina at Newlands on Saturday:

15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Bryan Habana, 13 Jean de Villiers, 12 Frans Steyn, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Francois Hougaard, 8 Keegan Daniel, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Andries Bekker, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Beast Mtawarira.

Bench: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Pat Cilliers, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Jacques Potgieter, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 Patrick Lambie, 22 JJ Engelbrecht

Frans Steyn will play in his 50th Test. He made his Test debut against Ireland in 2006, and will become the 23rd player to reach 50 Test caps for South Africa.

Apart from Steyn’s return, two Springboks who have yet to feature this year are also back. They are lock Andries Bekker and Lwazi Mvovo. Mvovo takes over from the injured JP Pietersen at right wing while Bekker replaces Juandré Kruger in the middle row for his first Test in more than two years. Keegan Daniel will start his first Test for South Africa and comes in at No 8 for the injured Pierre Spies.

In the only other changes from the team that played England in Port Elizabeth, Willem Alberts returns to flank in the place of Jacques Potgieter, who is on the bench, while Zane Kirchner is back at fullback for Gio Aplon.

In total there are five changes from the team that started in Port Elizabeth. The Springbok team has a combined total of 432 Test caps for this Test – 157 amongst the forwards and 275 for the backs.

Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer decided to stick with combinations for the Test against Argentina – the front row and loose forwards are from The Sharks, the locks play together for the DHL Stormers and the halfbacks are from the Vodacom Bulls.

There are two players on the bench that will be making their debut should they get game time – prop Pat Cilliers and utility back JJ Engelbrecht. Pat Lambie is also back on the bench after missing the Test in Port Elizabeth because of an ankle injury.