South Africa names team for Argentinian revenge mission

South Africa head coach Heyneke Meyer has named a much changed line-up for their game against Argentina in Buenos Aires on Saturday, as he looks to overturn the shock defeat to Los Pumas in Durban that saw them end the Rugby Championship winless.

After last weekend’s scrum troubles, a whole new front row is named with Trevor Nyakane, Adriaan Strauss and Marcel van der Merwe coming in. Victor Matfield returns as captain alongside Eben Etzebeth, while Willem Alberts adds some ballast to the back-row alongside Heinrich Brussouw and Schalk Burger.

Handré Pollard’s poor performance sees him demoted to the bench with Pat Lambie getting a chance to stake his claim at fly-half, while in midfield the previously successful combination of Damien de Allende and Jesse Kriel is reunited. Two changes to the back three see Zane Kirchner come in at fullback for the injured Willie le Roux and Lwazi Mvovo start on the wing.

The Springboks have a host of injuries to contend with, Lood de Jager, Vincent Koch, Fourie du Preez, Jannie du Plessis, Coenie Oosthuizen, Francois Louw, Coetzee, Duane Vermeulen, De Villiers, JP Pietersen and Williw le Roux all unavailable this weekend.

SOUTH AFRICA TEAM TO PLAY ARGENTINA

15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Lwazi Mvovo, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Pat Lambie, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Schalk Burger, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 Victor Matfield (c), 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Marcel van der Merwe, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Trevor Nyakane

Replacements: 16 Schalk Brits, 17 Tendai Mtawarira, 18 Frans Malherbe, 19 Flip van der Merwe, 20 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Handré Pollard, 23 Jan Serfontein

Date: Saturday, 15th August
Venue: Velez Sarsfield, Buenos Aires
Kick-off: 16:40 local (19:40 GMT, 21:40 SAST)
Referee: Glen Jackson (New Zealand)