South Africa meet Australia in the home leg of their 2011 Tri-Nations at: Kings Park, Durban on Saturday, 13 August kick-off: 1605 BST (1705 local time) with Coverage: live on Sky Sports.
Peter De Villiers has made 13 changes from the travelling squad as scrum-half Fourie du Preez and flanker Heinrich Brussow make their first Test appearances in 21 months. Whilst Hooker John Smit and flanker Danie Rossouw are the only survivors. World Cup winners Francois Steyn, Jaque Fourie, Bryan Habana, Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha also return. Their presence means the Springboks have the most experienced starting line-up in their history, with 810 caps between them.
Lock Matfield (106 caps), hooker Smit (90), wing Habana (68), centre Jean De Villiers (54) and fly-half Butch James (37) are all now the most-capped South Africans in their positions.
Peter De Villiers said: (quote) They might struggle for the first 15 minutes to get into the game but I believe that their natural talent will kick in. (end quote)
Australia have made two changes to the side beaten by the All Blacks in Auckland last weekend. Scott Higginbotham, normally a blind-side flanker with Queensland Reds, will make his first Test start at number eight after impressing off the bench at Eden Park. Lock Nathan Sharpe also returns, with Ben McCalman dropping to the bench and Rob Simmons out of the 22.
Robbie Deans said: (quote) We are looking for Scott to bring a similar enthusiasm and industriousness with the time he has now. It’s a different skill starting at the front-end so there are some realities to deal with as regards to that. (end quote)
Teams
South Africa: Francois Steyn, JP Pietersen, Jaque Fourie, Jean De Villiers, Bryan Habana, Butch James, Fourie du Preez; Tendai Mtawarira, John Smit (capt), Jannie du Plessis, Bakkies Botha, Victor Matfield, Heinrich Brussow, Danie Rossouw, Pierre Spies.
Replacements: Bismarck du Plessis, Guthro Steenkamp, Gerhard Mostert, Jean Deysel, Francois Hougaard, Morne Steyn, Gio Aplon.
Australia: Kurtley Beale, James O’Connor, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Pat McCabe, Digby Ioane, Quade Cooper, Will Genia; Sekope Kepu, Stephen Moore, Ben Alexander, Nathan Sharpe, James Horwill, Rocky Elsom (capt), David Pocock, Scott Higginbotham.
Replacements: Saia Faingaa, Salesi Maafu, Sitaleki Timani, Ben McCalman, Radike Samo, Luke Burgess, Anthony Fainga’a.