Rugby World Cup winners JP Pietersen and Schalk Burger will start Saturday’s second Test in the Castle Lager Outgoing Tour against England at Twickenham as the Springbok match-23 is retained from last weekend.
The five changes to the team are straight swaps between the starting line-up and the bench. Along with Pietersen and Burger, Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer has handed starts to hooker Adriaan Strauss and the halfback pair of Cobus Reinach and Pat Lambie.
Cornal Hendricks, Handré Pollard, Francois Hougaard, Teboho Mohoje and Bismarck du Plessis will start on the bench.
“We’ve accepted our performance against Ireland last weekend was not up to scratch and everyone in the touring squad has put up their hands and dug deep this week,” said Meyer. “We’ve really worked hard at fixing the mistakes we made and the challenge is now to put that into action on Saturday.”
Meyer said the changes were not a knee-jerk reaction following the result in Dublin, but rather in line with rotational changes that he had in mind before the start of the tour.
Strauss, Lambie and Pietersen all started in the Springboks’ last Test at Twickenham, two years ago, while Saturday’s match will be Reinach’s first in the starting team.
“Pat started at Twickenham for us two years ago and did very well,” said Meyer.
“He’s playing well at the moment and I wanted to give him the opportunity to start. Pat is tactically very astute and even though he’s still pretty young, he’s got a lot of experience.
“Adriaan, Schalk and JP have all started a number of Tests this year and they will slot in easily – we decided beforehand that we wanted to start all of these players in one of the first two Tests on tour.
“It’s a big occasion for Cobus but he would not have been here if we didn’t believe he could deliver the goods, and he’ll be next to his provincial team-mate in Pat.
“As usual, we’re also expecting our replacements to raise the intensity when they’re sent on and Bismarck, who had a very good game in Dublin especially in the set-pieces, ‘Oupa’, Francois, Cornal and Handré will provide important cover off the bench.”
The Springbok team to face England in London is:
| Position | Name | Test Caps | Test points |
| 15 | Willie le Roux | 22 | 35 |
| 14 | JP Pietersen | 57 | 90 |
| 13 | Jan Serfontein | 17 | 5 |
| 12 | Jean de Villiers (captain) | 103 | 135 |
| 11 | Bryan Habana | 104 | 280 |
| 10 | Pat Lambie | 37 | 81 |
| 9 | Cobus Reinach | 3 | 0 |
| 8 | Duane Vermeulen | 26 | 10 |
| 7 | Schalk Burger | 74 | 65 |
| 6 | Marcell Coetzee | 23 | 30 |
| 5 | Victor Matfield (vice-captain) | 118 | 35 |
| 4 | Eben Etzebeth | 30 | 0 |
| 3 | Jannie du Plessis | 61 | 5 |
| 2 | Adriaan Strauss | 41 | 25 |
| 1 | Tendai Mtawarira | 62 | 10 |
| Replacements: | |||
| 16 | Bismarck du Plessis | 67 | 45 |
| 17 | Trevor Nyakane | 10 | 5 |
| 18 | Coenie Oosthuizen | 18 | 10 |
| 19 | Bakkies Botha | 84 | 35 |
| 20 | Teboho “Oupa” Mohoje | 4 | 0 |
| 21 | Francois Hougaard | 33 | 25 |
| 22 | Handré Pollard | 7 | 61 |
| 23 | Cornal Hendricks | 10 | 25 |
Stats and facts:
• The Springbok starting team boasts a total of 778 Test caps (343 in the backline and 435 in the forwards), while there are a further 233 caps worth of experience on the bench.
• South Africa and England have played each other 36 times since 1906, with the Springboks winning 22 Tests, losing 12 and two were drawn. The Springboks have scored 749 points and 69 tries and conceded 564 points and 39 tries for an average score of 21-16.
• South Africa and England last met on 24 November 2012 at Twickenham in London. The Springboks won by 16-15 thanks to a try by Willem Alberts and 11 points from the boot of Patrick Lambie (one conversion and three penalty goals). England kicked five penalties, three by Owen Farrell and two by Toby Flood.
• Jean de Villiers will extend his record as the most-capped Springbok centre, with 88 Tests in this position and will captain South Africa for the 32nd time, placing him third behind John Smit (83) and Gary Teichmann (36).
• Victor Matfield will extend his record as the most capped Springbok in history (118 Tests). He will also extend his record of 118 Tests as a lock and will also extend his record as the oldest Springbok ever at 37 years 181 days.
• Bryan Habana will extend his record as the most-capped Springbok wing, with 103 Tests in this position. If he scores a try, he will extend his record of 56 Test tries for South Africa.
• If he goes on and scores a try Bismarck du Plessis will extend his record of nine Test tries for South Africa as a hooker.
• Schalk Burger will extend his record as the most capped Springbok flanker in history (72 caps). If he scores a try, he will become the sole record-holder for most Test tries as a flanker (11), a record he currently shares with Juan Smith.
• Willie le Roux, Cornal Hendricks, Duane Vermeulen, Jannie du Plessis and Bismarck du Plessis have played in all 10 Tests for the Springboks in 2014. Bryan Habana and Tendai Mtawarira have both missed only one Test in 2014.
• Schalk Burger (Jnr) and Cobus Reinach are sons of Springboks. Schalk Burger (Snr) played six Tests for South Africa (1984-1986) and Jaco Reinach four Tests for South Africa in 1986. They played together in all four Tests against the New Zealand Cavaliers in 1986.
• It will be the fourth time in history that a Springbok team will have three centurions in the starting line-up. The three previous times were against Australia and New Zealand in the Rugby Championship and against Ireland last week.
• It will be Heyneke Meyer’s 35th Test in charge of the Springboks since he took over in 2012. Of the previous 34 Tests South Africa have won 24, lost eight and drew twice.
• The referee is Steve Walsh of Australia. It will be his 18th Test involving South Africa. This is a new record for a referee in Tests involving SA, breaking the record of himself and Alain Rolland. Of the previous 17 Tests the Springboks have won 13, lost one and three were drawn. His last Test involving South Africa was in August this year against Argentina in Salta in the Rugby Championship – a game that the Springboks won 33-31.
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