LONDON – The Springboks have made eight changes for their Rugby Championship hit-out against the All Blacks in Johannesburg on Saturday with some forced changes due to injuries sustained in the loss to the Wallabies.
The injury to Victor Matfield that saw the veteran leave the field after just 15 minutes against Australia in Brisbane will see the 38 year old miss the match against the All Blacks, the 90th time in which the teams will meet.
Schalk Burger has been named to captain the Boks in Matfield’s absence and will become the 55th player to do so. The man-mountain was immense in Brisbane in the first round of the Rugby Championship and South Africa will need more of the same if they’re to see a result against the no.1 ranked team in the world.
Interestingly, Heinrich Brussow, one of the most lethal pilferers in the game returns to the starting lineup for the Springboks for the first time since the 2011 Rugby World Cup. However he will start on the openside with Francois Louw moving from openside where he played last weekend to the blindside to replace Marcell Coetzee who has been forced out through injury. The only other change in the starting lineup is Lood de Jager who comes in to replace Matfield at lock.
There are five changes to the Springboks’ bench which sees Vincent Koch, Cornal Hendricks, Trevor Nyakane, Flip van der Merwe and Warren Whiteley coming into the squad. If Koch and Whiteley come off the bench, they will earn their first cap for the Springboks.