South Africa made five changes and welcomed back winger Bryan Habana to their team to play Namibia in a Rugby World Cup Pool D match at North Harbour on Thursday.
Habana returned from a knee injury that saw him miss the 49-3 win over Fiji in Wellington last Saturday and will have another opportunity to claim the all-time Springbok try-scoring record against their African neighbours.
Habana is currently joint record holder with Joost van der Westhuizen on 38 tries, but has struggled to pass the record since equaling it against Italy in Witbank in June 2010.
In other changes the Boks have used a number of fringe players, with winger Gio Aplon replacing JP Pietersen on the one wing, and Habana taking the spot of Odwa Ndungane on the other.
Francois Hougaard, who came on in the opening two games as a replacement wing, will start at scrumhalf, with Fourie du Preez moving down to the bench.
In the loose trio, Willem Alberts replaces Heinrich Brussow, who also drops to the bench and prop CJ van der Linde gets his first start of the tournament at tighthead.
Four players were unavailable for selection due to injury, while coach Peter de Villiers opted to bring in fresh legs in the hope of sustaining the team’s momentum. Locks Victor Matfield and Johann Muller, centre Jean de Villiers and flyhalf Butch James were not considered for the match.
Hooker Chiliboy Ralepelle comes onto the bench for his first selection of the 2011 Rugby World Cup as Bismarck du Plessis is rested.
Captain John Smit will once again become the most capped Springbok player when he wins his 109th cap, bypassing Matfield, who previously held the record.
“Our biggest challenge is to manage our players at the moment,” De Villiers said.
“We’ve had two bruising encounters and from those John (Smit) is the only one still standing.
“You can see how valuable he is. We need to manage our players properly if we want to have 30 players to choose from when we get to the proper big games.”
De Villiers added that he was happy to see Habana back on the field.
“Bryan brings a lot of energy to the team, he’s a bundle of energetic spirit that we need there. I’m happy to give him a run again and see that he’s over his injuries.”
SOUTH AFRICA (15-1): pat Lambie; Gio Aplon, Jaque Fourie, Frans Steyn, Bryan Habana; Morne Steyn, Francois Hougaard; Pierre Spies, Schalk Burger, Willem Alberts; Danie Rossouw, Bakkies Botha; CJ van der Linde, John Smit (capt), Gurthro Steenkamp
Replacements: Chiliboy Ralepelle, Tendai Mtawarira, Francois Louw, Heinrich Brussow, Fourie du Preez, Ruan Pienaar, Juan de Jongh
Rusty
Roar Guru
Strong side to keep the momentum and consistency going. I like the fact Steyn stays at 12 and another strong performance could oust JdV from there for the Samoa game. Lambie's performance from the back could also seal this move. Hougaard will also be interesting as the kid runs around like he ate the Energiser bunny and will bring alot of quick ball and sniping to the table. Also has a wingers knack for being in the right place at the right time. Personally I would have persisted with FdP to get his form up and played Hougaard from the wing with a mid game change to scrumhalf with Aplon from the bench. This has to be THE game for Habana to finally put Joost's record to bed and get that monkey off his back. If it doesnt happen here it will never happen. Forwards look good but I reckon PdV must be set to start Bismarck for the Samoa game when Matfield returns as stand in captain. I would also have probably played Louw in the starting lineup and Burger off the bench if required but then we are short of lock cover. So perhaps Alberts covering from the bench with Louw & Burger starting would have been better Going to be a long day in the office for Namibia