Powerful loose forward Jasper Wiese has been catapulted into the Springbok team to provide extra thrust ahead of Saturday’s must-win second Test against the Lions.
Wiese earns his first Test start after making his debut off the replacements bench against Georgia earlier in July. He replaces Kwagga Smith who moves to the bench.
It will be a milestone match for Bok prop Steven Kitshoff who earns his 50th Test cap at the Cape Town Stadium.
“Jasper’s main role for us, as Kwagga did last week, is getting momentum and stopping momentum,” Bok head coach Jacques Nienaber said.
“He was player 24 or 25 for the first Test so Jasper was always there and thereabouts .
“Jasper has had another week of training with us of getting used to the environment and how we do things.
“It’s nice having him and giving him a start. Then we can use Kwagga for his speed and impact.
“I’m happy for Jasper; he has worked hard and it will be nice to see him participating in a huge game like this.”
Nienaber made three changes to his starting team and six in total to the match day squad for the clash.
Two of these changes are in the front-row, where Kitshoff — who made his Test debut against Ireland in 2016 — will mark his career milestone next to Frans Malherbe (prop) and Bongi Mbonambi in a new-look combination for the hosts.
Ox Nché — who packed down with Trevor Nyakane (prop) and Mbonambi last weekend — was ruled out due to the neck niggle he picked up in the first Test.
Mbonambi’s hamstring strain has recovered sufficiently for him to start the match.
“This is a massive game for us,” Nienaber said.
“It is do or die to stay in the race to win the series and we selected a team that offers continuity in selection, but also that we thought would be the best suited to achieve the objectives we have set for this match.
“Ox did well in the scrums last week but has been ruled out due to injury, but fortunately we have a world class player in Steven who can step into the starting team.
“The fact that this will mark his 50th Test will make this occasion even more important for him.”
Teams:
SA: 15 — Willie le Roux, 14 — Cheslin Kolbe, 13 — Lukhanyo Am, 12 — Damian de Allende, 11 — Makazole Mapimpi, 10 — Handré Pollard, 9 — Faf de Klerk, 8 — Jasper Wiese, 7 — Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 — Siya Kolisi (capt), 5 — Franco Mostert, 4 — Eben Etzebeth, 3 — Frans Malherbe, 2 — Bongi Mbonambi, 1 — Steven Kitshoff
Replacements: 16 — Malcolm Marx, 17 — Trevor Nyakane, 18 — Vincent Koch, 19 — Lood de Jager, 20 — Marco van Staden, 21 — Kwagga Smith, 22 — Herschel Jantjies, 23 — Damian Willemse.
Lions: 15 — Stuart Hogg, 14 — Anthony Watson, 13 — Chris Harris, 12 — Robbie Henshaw, 11 — Duhan van der Merwe, 10 — Dan Biggar, 9 — Conor Murray, 8 — Jack Conan, 7 — Tom Curry, 6 — Courtney Lawes, 5 — Alun Wyn Jones (captain), 4 — Maro Itoje, 3 — Tadhg Furlong, 2 — Luke Cowan-Dickie, 1 — Mako Vunipola
Replacements: 16 — Ken Owens, 17 — Rory Sutherland, 18 — Kyle Sinckler, 19 — Tadhg Beirne, 20 — Taulupe Faletau, 21 — Ali Price, 22 — Owen Farrell, 23 — Elliot Daly.
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