South Africa head coach Heyneke Meyer has made three changes to his team for the Pool B Rugby World Cup clash against Scotland on Sunday.
Bismarck du Plessis steps in for Adriaan Strauss at hooker, Lodewyk de Jager comes in for Victor Matfield at number five and Jesse Kriel willman outside-centre with injured Jean de Villiers ruled out for the remainder of the tournament.
There are two fewer centurions in this Springboks line-up compared to the last. De Villiers has left the squad and Matfield is not in the 23. Bryan Habana (112 caps) is the only centurion that remains in the starting line-up.Scrum-half Fourie du Preez (pictured with Meyer) will captain the Springboks for the first time in his 73-test career.
He is only the fifth player to captain South Africa following RWC 2007. The others are (with tests as captain since 2007 in parentheses): De Villiers (37), John Smit (35), Victor Matfield (19) and Schalk Burger (1).
The front row of Tendai Mtawarira/Bismarck du Plessis/Jannie du Plessis will be deployed for the 20th time, extending the Springbok record for a front row. The world record is still the 29 by Ireland's Cian Healy/Rory Best/Mike Ross.
Habana needs one try to move into outright third place in test history. His 61st would see him overtake Shane Williams (WAL) and remain in pursuit of only Daisuke Ohata (JPN, 69) and David Campese (AUS, 64).?
South Africa 1. Tendai Mtawarira 2. Bismarck Du Plessis 3. Jannie Du Plessis 4. Eben Etzebeth 5. Lodewyk De Jager 6. Francois Louw 7. Schalk Burger 8. Duane Vermeulen 9. Fourie Du Preez (captain) 10. Handre Pollard 11. Bryan Habana 12. Damian De Allende 13. Jesse Kriel 14. JP Pietersen 15. Willie Le Roux
16. Adriaan Strauss 17. Trevor Nyakane 18. Frans Malherbe 19. Pieter-Steph Du Toit 20. Willem Alberts 21. Ruan Pienaar 22. Pat Lambie 23. Jan Serfontein
