Sky Sports will again be bringing you live coverage of the Rugby Championship this weekend with New Zealand taking on Argentina from (8.05am) before Australia face South Africa once again (10.35am) in Round 4 of matches on Saturday, September 3
Tuesday 30 August 2022 12:05, UK
South Africa have made eight changes to their team for their second clash with Australia after they were beaten 25-17 by the Wallabies in the Rugby Championship last weekend.
Due to a number of injuries, including Handre Pollard, Lukhanyo Am and Pieter-Steph du Toit being ruled out, Springboks head coach Jacques Nienaber has opted to move Damian Willemse to fly-half and put Jesse Kriel into the centres.
Willie le Roux comes in to take the full-back spot, while Faf de Klerk is replaced by Jaden Hendrikse at scrum-half, a debut for Canan Moodie on the wing adding further changes to the back line.
The front-row will also have a different look, Steven Kitshoff and hooker Malcolm Marx moving into the starting line-up alongside Frans Malherbe as Jasper Wiese comes in at No 8.
Nienaber admitted his selection choices had been hampered by injury and is intrigued to see how his players will handle the opportunity and test that Australia offer.
"We selected a team we thought would be best for this match given that we have several players out with injuries and with an eye on how we want to play," said Nienaber.
"Handre, Lukhanyo, Elton and Pieter-Steph are all carrying injuries which adds to a list that includes Cheslin Kolbe and Sbu Nkosi, while Kurt-Lee Arendse is also out serving a suspension, and this has forced our hand to make a few changes in some positions.
"With both fly-halves injured, Damian was the natural choice at No 10 where he has slotted in for us a lot. He is also becoming a settled player in our team with over 20 Test caps to his name.
"This will also be a great test for Canan, who was a stand-out player for the Vodacom Bulls this season in the Vodacom United Rugby Championship. He's a very talented player, who will enjoy this opportunity.
"Cobus at his best is world class and having seen what he offers us at training we think he's close to that form. With him, Warrick (Gelant) and Frans Steyn on the bench we have sufficient cover among the backs.
Despite being forced into changes, the Springboks coach expects his team to rectify their loss to the Wallabies.
"We had a thorough review of our performance against Australia last week, and the most disappointing aspect is that we were dominant in several areas of the game, but we struggled to show that on the scoreboard," he added.
"This week is a final for us to stay in the competition and we are expecting Australia to be just as desperate, but so are we.
"We let ourselves down in the last two games and we are determined to rectify that this week and change our fortunes in Australia. We'll prepare as well as possible this week to stay in the hunt for the title."
Sky Sports will again be bringing you live coverage with New Zealand taking on Argentina from (8.05am) before Australia face South Africa once again (10.35am) in Round 4 of matches on Saturday, September 3.
