Springbok coach Jake White made three changes and one positional switch in the starting line-up for the opening Vodacom Tri-Nations clash against Australia at Loftus on Saturday afternoon.
The revamped outfit that beat the Wallabies 33-20 at Ellis Park last weekend have largely been retained — just reward for their sterling efforts in squaring the Mandela Challenge series.
However, greater hurdles lie ahead and the pressure is on White’s charges as they attempt to become the first South African team in the history of the Tri-Nations to win back-to-back titles.
The more experienced scrumhalf, Fourie du Preez, returns to the starting XV on his home ground, as does powerful number eight Jacques Cronje. The other change sees tighthead prop CJ van der Linde return in place of Eddie Andrews, who has been excused to be with his wife who is expecting to give birth this weekend.
Du Preez will pull on the number-nine jersey in place of Ricky Januarie, while Cronje will pack down at the back of the scrum, where he replaces Joe van Niekerk, who switches to open-side flank in place of Solly Tyibilika.
Tyibilika drops out completely from the 22-man match squad.
White expects the Australians to launch an even more determined challenge following their defeat last Saturday at Ellis Park.
”This is the start of a new competition and I know the Aussies will be out to prove that they can play much better than last week. They are an experienced side with a strong belief and will definitely bounce back, so we will have to show the same commitment and composure,” said White.
That sentiment was echoed by lock forward Bakkies Botha, one of the stand-out performers from last week’s Test.
”We definitely expect a far tougher Test than Ellis Park,” he said. ”There is a thin line between confidence and arrogance, and we will not allow ourselves to be sucked in.
”We cannot expect to just pitch up and win. We will need to be 20% to 30% better than Ellis Park if we hope to get off to a good start in the Tri-Nations,” predicted Botha.
Botha will again partner provincial teammate Victor Matfield in the second row in what is fast becoming one of the finest lock partnerships ever for the Springboks.
”Victor and I always aim higher. No matter what we achieve in a Test, we know we can always improve.
”Perhaps the perfect goal would be for me to hit 50 rucks in a match and for us to take all the opposition ball, so until that happens we will keep working hard.” — Sapa
Springbok line-up: 15 Percy Montgomery, 14 Breyton Paulse, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Andre Pretorius, 9 Fourie du Preez; 8 Jacques Cronje, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Joe van Niekerk, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 CJ van der Linde, 2 John Smit (captain), 1 Gurthro Steenkamp.
Replacements: 16 Gary Botha, 17 Lawrence Sephaka, 18 Albert van den Berg, 19 Schalk Burger, 20 Ricky Januarie, 21 Wayne Julies, 22 Jaco van der Westhuyzen.