South Africa ruled No. 8 Warren Whiteley out of their tour with a calf strain and decided not to rush lock Eben Etzebeth back from a foot injury to play Scotland on Saturday at Murrayfield.
After beating France 29-26 with a
late try in Paris last weekend, Whiteley was replaced at No. 8 by Duane Vermeulen, and Pieter-Steph du Tout moved back to blindside flanker in the lineup named on Thursday to face the Scots. Du Toit locked against England and France.
With Etzebeth still out and du Toit moved, RG Snyman will start for the fourth time and partner Franco Mostert in the second row. Lood de Jager provides cover.
Faf de Klerk was released to his English club for this weekend, giving a sixth cap to scrumhalf Embrose Papier, who will partner with Blue Bulls teammate Handre Pollard. The Springboks said they were still working on having de Klerk available for the test against Wales next week.
"Moving Duane and Pieter-Steph around in the pack isn't disrupting at all, as both of them are very experienced and have played for us in these positions earlier in the season," coach Rassie Erasmus said.
"Scotland is a well-coached side, they are difficult to break down, and they will present us with a very tough challenge at Murrayfield."
South Africa: Willie le Roux, Sbu Nkosi, Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende, Aphiwe Dyantyi, Handre Pollard, Embrose Papier; Duane Vermeulen, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi (captain), Franco Mostert, RG Snyman, Frans Malherbe, Malcolm Marx, Steven Kitshoff. Reserves: Bongi Mbonambi, Thomas du Toit, Vincent Koch, Lood de Jager, Francois Louw, Ivan van Zyl, Elton Jantjies, Cheslin Kolbe.
- AP
