Meyer names 'horses for courses'
Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer on Wednesday made five changes to his team in what he termed a 'horses for courses' selection for the Rugby Championship encounter with the Wallabies in Brisbane on Saturday.
Meyer made three changes and two positional switches to the starting line-up – from the team that beat Argentine 22-17 in Mendoza a fortnight ago.
Up front Bismarck du Plessis takes over at hooker and as vice-captain from Adriaan Strauss, while Flip van der Merwe will pack down at lock in place of Juandré Kruger.
Strauss and Kruger both move to the replacement bench.
At the back Willie le Roux shifts from fullback to right wing in the place of Bjorn Basson, with Bryan Habana moving over to the left wing.
Zane Kirchner, who is back to full fitness following a hand injury earlier in the season, will start his first Test of the year at fullback.
"A few of these changes are purely rotational, in order to give guys with fresh legs a go, while others are simply a case of horses for courses," Meyer told a media scrum in Brisbane.
"We're fortunate to be in a position to rotate players of the calibre of Bismarck and Adriaan, while we felt this was the right opportunity to give Flip and Zane a go in the starting team.
"In the end, the most important factor still remains consistency in selection.
"In our squad, any player can slot in at any stage, and that is a good position to be in."
South Africa: 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Willie le Roux, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Jean de Villiers (captain), 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Flip van der Merwe, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Gurthrö Steenkamp, 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 Juandre Kruger, 20 Siya Kolisi, 21 Jano Vermaak, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Jan Serfontein.
Date: Saturday, September 7
Venue: Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane
Kick-off: 20.05 (12.05 SA time; 10.05 GMT)
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Nigel Owens (Wales), Glen Jackson (New Zealand)
TMO: Ben Skeen (New Zealand)
