The Bok side to play Australia in Brisbane on Saturday shows three changes and two positional switches from the team that played Argentina in Mendoza two weeks ago.
Willie le Roux shifts from fullback to right wing in the place of Bjorn Basson, with Bryan Habana moving over to the left. Zane Kirchner will start his first Test of the year at fullback.
Upfront, Bismarck du Plessis takes over at hooker and vice-captain from Adriaan Strauss, while Flip van der Merwe will pack down at lock for Juandré Kruger. Strauss and Kruger move to the replacement bench.
“A few of these changes are purely rotational in order to give guys with fresh legs a go, while others are simply a case of horses for courses,” said Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer.
“We’re fortunate to be in a position to rotate players of the calibre of Bismarck and Adriaan, while we felt this was the right opportunity to give Flip and Zane a go in the starting team.
“In the end, the most important factor still remains consistency in selection. In our squad, any player can slot in at any stage, and that is a good position to be in.”
Meyer reiterated the massive challenge of playing Australia at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday: “If we are going to progress as a team, we need to start winning away from home and Saturday’s Test provides this challenge”.
“It’s no use looking at history now – we have to focus on the Test, ensure we tick the right boxes and improve in the areas where we let ourselves down in Mendoza.”
The Springbok team to face Australia in Brisbane is:
15 Zane Kirchner, 24 caps
14 Willie le Roux, 5
13 JJ Engelbrecht, 6
12 Jean de Villiers (captain), 89
11 Bryan Habana, 88
10 Morné Steyn, 47
9 Ruan Pienaar, 68
8 Duane Vermeulen, 9
7 Willem Alberts, 23
6 Francois Louw, 21
5 Flip van der Merwe, 28
4 Eben Etzebeth, 16
3 Jannie du Plessis, 47
2 Bismarck du Plessis, 50
1 Tendai Mtawarira, 46
Bench:
16 Adriaan Strauss, 26
17 Gurthrö Steenkamp, 42
18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 7
19 Juandré Kruger, 13
20 Siya Kolisi, 4
21 Jano Vermaak, 1
22 Pat Lambie, 25
23 Jan Serfontein, 5
Australia: 15 Israel Folau, 14 Nick Cummins, 13 Adam-Ashley Cooper, 12 Christian Lealiifano, 11 James O’Connor, 10 Quade Cooper, 9 Will Genia, 8 Ben Mowen, 7 Michael Hooper, 6 Scott Fardy, 5 James Horwill (c), 4 Rob Simmons, 3 Sekope Kepu, 2 Stephen Moore, 1 James Slipper.
Bench: 16 Saia Faingaa, 17 Scott Sio, 18 Ben Alexander, 19 Kane Douglas, 20 Jake Schatz, 21 Nic White, 22 Matt Toomua, 23 Jesse Mogg.
And down the rabbit hole HM goes once again! Pat Lambie should tell Meyer to stick where the sun doesn’t shine
My thoughts exactly !