South Africa v Australia, Durban, August 13
South Africa out to make amends
ESPNscrum Staff
August 11, 2011
Heinrich Brussow looks for the ball in training, Springboks training session, Florida Park, Ravensmead, Cape Town, South Africa, July 6, 2011
Fans of the Sprinboks will be delighted to see Heinrich Brussow back in the side © Getty Images
Enlarge

South Africa have rung the changes while the Wallabies have opted for consistency ahead of their Tri-Nations clash in Durban on Saturday.

South Africa have been boosted by the return of Heinrich Brussow and scrum-half Fourie du Preez. The duo will line-up for the Springboks for the first time in 21 months - having recovered from a knee and shoulder injury respectively - and are part of 13 wholesale changes from the side which lost to New Zealand on July 30.

The side is captained by John Smit and he is joined in the front-row engine room by Jannie du Plessis and Tendai 'Beast' Mtawarira. In the backs - Butch James gets a chance to impress at fly-half and forms the half-back combination with du Preez while Bryan Habana and J.P Pietersen will try to make an impact from the wings. In the centres Jean de Villiers and Jacque Fourie will aim to provide creative inspiration while the side will be guided at fullback by Racing Metro's Francois Steyn.

The Wallabies have made just two changes from the side which were defeated by the All Blacks last weekend. Scott Higginbotham comes into the side at No.8 while Nathan Sharpe takes over from Rob Simmons in the second-row. Simmons fails to make the matchday squad with Waratahs' lock Sitaleki Timani taking the lock's place on the bench.

Wallabies coach Robbie Deans has opted for a five - two split between forwards and backs on the bench with Lachie Turner missing out at the expense of Reds No.8 Radike Samo. A further change in the replacements sees Salesi Ma'afu coming into the match day 22 in place of Pek Cowan.

South Africa: Frans Steyn, J.P Pietersen, Jaque Fourie, Jean de Villiers, Bryan Habana, Butch James, Fourie du Preez; Tendai Mtawarira, John Smit, Jannie du Plessis, Bakkies Botha, Victor Matfield, Heinrich Brussow, Danie Rossouw, Pierre Spies

Replacements: Bismarck du Plessis, Gurthro Steenkamp, Gerhard Mostert, Jean Deysel, Francois Houggard, Morne Steyn, Gio Aplon

Australia: Kurtley Beale; James O'Connor, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Pat McCabe, Digby Ioane; Quade Cooper, Will Genia; Sekope Kepu, Stephen Moore, Ben Alexander, Nathan Sharpe, James Horwill, Rocky Elsom, David Pocock, Scott Higginbotham

Replacements: Saia Fainga'a, Salesi Ma'afu, Sitaleki Timani, Ben McCalman, Radike Samo, Luke Burgess, Anthony Fainga'a

Referee: Bryce Lawrence (NZ)

Assistant Referees: George Clancy (Ireland), Carlo Damasco (Italy)
Television Match Offical: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

Live Sports

Communication error please reload the page.