Schalk Brits will become the oldest Springbok captain when he leads the team into battle against Argentina at Loftus on Saturday (5.05pm).
The 38-year-old Brits will skipper Springboks in his first start in the Green and Gold since 2008, despite regular captain Siya Kolisi also starting the match.
Coach Rassie Erasmus says the move is only temporary and will allow Kolisi to focus on going full-out in the match.
Erasmus explains: “I’ve asked Siya to empty his tank and go as hard for as long as he can.
“I’ve told him he might even come off in the first half.
ALL OUT: Kolisi. Photo: Christiaan Kotze/BackpagePix.
“He has played less than 50 minutes of Currie Cup rugby in the last 12 weeks, but I needed him to have a taste of Test rugby again before we leave for Japan.”
Having made wholesale changes to his squad for the Test, Erasmus also included Western Province hooker Scarra Ntubeni, the only possible debutant on the bench.
But while he has made a klomp changes, the coach still wants the Boks to win the game.
%%%twitter https://twitter.com/hashtag/Springbok?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Springboktraining session. #StrongerTogether @MTNza@ASICS_ZA@FNBSA pic.twitter.com/ijNEtXfbxl
— Springboks (@Springboks)
He says: “No matter what has happened before this weekend, the momentum we will go to the World Cup with will depend on what happens on Saturday.
“Some of these players will know they are on the plane [to Japan] but for others it is make or break and even if they don’t make the plane, there will be six standby roles.
“We’ve picked a formidable pack and we saw what the backline did against Australia so I am really excited to see what they can do on Saturday to prove their own case and also show just how strong SA rugby is.”
Springboks:
15 Warrick Gelant, 14 S’bu Nkosi, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Dillyn Leyds, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Cobus Reinach, 8 Marcell Coetzee, 7 Rynhardt Elstadt, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 RG Snyman, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Schalk Brits ( captain), 1 Thomas du Toit.
Replacements:
16 Scarra Ntubeni, 17 Lizo Gqoboka, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Marvin Orie, 20 Marco van Staden, 21 Kwagga Smith, 22 Faf de Klerk, 23 Frans Steyn.