Andre Esterhuizen will captain South Africa for the first time in a heavily-changed Springboks team for the one-off Test against Australia in Perth.
The versatile Esterhuizen, who can also play in the back row, skippers the side from the centres as Rassie Erasmus makes 13 alterations to the starting XV that beat New Zealand in the fourth Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry clash in Baltimore.
Handre Pollard returns to wear the No 10 shirt having missed out on an appearance in the All Blacks series due to injury, while Eben Etzebeth and Franco Mostert form an experienced second row partnership.
Jasper Wiese is set to win his 50th cap as one of five forwards named on the bench, while Pieter-Steph du Toit and Damian de Allende have been released from camp having been rested ahead of South Africa’s Nations Championship fixtures in November.
“Each player in this squad has been working hard at training over the last few months and have had a chance to play in either the first leg of the Nations Championship or RGR, or both, while guys like Handre and Canan have recovered from injury, and they are all quality players, so we are pleased to give them a run and we are excited to see this team in action,” said Erasmus.
“Australia poses a completely different threat to New Zealand in the way they play, so we believe these combinations would be best suited for the challenge that we will face against them.”
“[Esterhuizen has] captained the Sharks, and he has brought so much to our squad off and on the field, both at centre and in the loose trio, and he thoroughly deserves this opportunity.
“It will also help build our leadership core even more within the team with several players having captained the side over the last few seasons, and we trust that he is the right man to take over the captaincy in this match.”
The Springboks fought back from 1-0 down to beat New Zealand 3-1 in the landmark new series that formed the centrepiece of a busy international year.
Erasmus’s side will enjoy more than a month off before resuming their Nations Championship campaign against Italy on 7 November, with clashes to come against France and Ireland.
South Africa XV to face Australia in Perth (Sunday 27 September, 10am BST): 1 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 3 Zachary Porthen; 4 Eben Etzebeth, 5 Franco Mostert; 6 Paul de Villiers, 7 Elrigh Louw, 8 Marco van Staden; 9 Herschel Jantjies, 10 Handre Pollard; 11 Ethan Hooker, 12 Andre Esterhuizen (capt.), 13 Canan Moodie, 14 Edwill van der Merwe; 15 Aphelele Fassi.
Replacements: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Ox Nche, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Lood de Jager, 20 Jasper Wiese; 21 Morne van den Berg, 22 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 23 Quan Horn.
