Rassie Erasmus has named the Springboks side that will face the All Blacks at Ellis Park on Saturday, with Damian de Allende set to become only the 10th South African to win 100 Test caps.
The opening match of the inaugural Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry will take place in Johannesburg on 22 August, with kick-off scheduled for 17:10.
The Springbok selection includes a blend of players who featured in the recent victory over Argentina and several members of the squad who remained in South Africa while their team-mates travelled to Buenos Aires. South Africa beat Los Pumas 17-10 in their previous Test.
Most of the starting XV, including captain Pieter-Steph du Toit, began preparing for the All Blacks fixture in Johannesburg last week. Only two players who started against Argentina retain their places: lock Eben Etzebeth and fly-half Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
Seven further players from the match in Buenos Aires have been named among the replacements. They are Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Marco van Staden, Cobus Wiese, Gerhard Steenekamp, Zachary Porthen, Andre Esterhuizen and Cobus Reinach.
Feinberg-Mngomezulu will form the half-back partnership with Grant Williams. Cheslin Kolbe and Kurt-Lee Arendse are selected on the wings, with Damian Willemse at full-back.
In midfield, De Allende will line up alongside Jesse Kriel in a centre pairing that includes the record-breaking South African international.
Ox Nche returns from injury to join Wilco Louw and Malcolm Marx in the front row. Etzebeth will be reunited with Ruan Nortje in the second row, while Paul de Villiers, Du Toit and Jasper Wiese make up the loose trio.
Erasmus has kept the same replacement front row used two weeks ago, with Wessels, Steenekamp and Porthen providing cover. Cobus Wiese, Van Staden and Esterhuizen offer additional options among the forwards, while Cobus Reinach and fly-half Manie Libbok are the specialist back replacements.
Within the match-day 23, Upington and Grey College each have two former pupils. The other 21 players attended different high schools.
The accompanying list of players and positions is:
15 Damian McKenzie, 14 Will Jordan, 13 Quinn Tupaea, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Josh Moorby, 10 Ruben Love, 9 Cam Roigard, 8 Ardie Savea (captain), 7 Luke Jacobson, 6 Tupou Vaa’i, 5 Fabian Holland, 4 Josh Lord, 3 Tyrel Lomax, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Ethan de Groot.
The substitutes are Asafo Aumua, George Bower, Fletcher Newell, Anton Senger, Peter Lakai, Kyle Preston, Anton Lienert-Brown and Leroy Carter.
The Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry trophy has also been unveiled ahead of the Ellis Park opener.
Readers were invited to take part in The South African’s Winter Reader Survey, with the promotion offering a chance to win R5 000.
