At number eight: Danie Rossouw
The Boks and England go head-to-head in Bloemfontein this Saturday, May 26, and again in Pretoria a week later.
White has made it clear that he wants to strike a huge psychological blow against England, whom South Africa will meet again in the pool stages at the World Cup in France later this year, and as a result he named a very strong team - despite facing an English side minus 30-ofdd frontline players.
However, the most noteworthy selection is the inclusion of Bulls second row forward Danie Rossouw at number eight, ahead of his Bulls teammate Pierre Spies.
Rossouw has been instrumental, both in the starting XV and as impact player, as a lock in the Bulls' success in this year Super 14 competition.
However, White prefers him at number eight, where he starred for South Africa on the year-end tour to Ireland and England last year, ahead of the Bulls' regular number eight, Spies.
Then there is the inclusion of wing Ashwin Willemse, who will play test rugby for the first time in more than two years.
Willemse, South Africa's player of the year in 2003 has been picked to play England, despite having failed to complete a game this year. His last three years have been riddled with injury - since he aggravated a knee injury against Ireland in November 2004.
He made a bold attempt at a comeback in 2005, only to suffer further injury setback - requiring surgery to both his knee and ankle. Last year he did not get past the pre-season matches, before injuries again ruled him out.
This year he played half a Vodacom Cup game for the Lions, before crying off with a hamstring injury, and then 60 minutes of Super 14 rugby for the Lions.
However, White feels strongly that Willemse - who has been one of the Bok coach's prodigies since his junior days - will come good if given enough chances to play.
Injury has also forced White's hand in several positions - with André Pretorius, Jaque Fourie, Fourie du Preez and Os du Randt all ruled out of the battle of Bloemfontein through injury.
Butch James (number 10) and Ricky Januarie (number nine) will be the halfback combination in the absence of Pretorius and Du Preez.
With Du Randt out the Boks field the powerful Sharks front row - BJ Botha, John Smit and Deon Carstens - in its entirety.
There are no new caps, but the Bok starting fifteen, with a total of 418 caps, have a distinct experience advantage over their opponents - whose starting fifteen have just 172 caps.
John Smit will lead the Springboks for a record 39th time and will be playing in his 43rd consecutive Test match since the match against Georgia in the 2003 RWC (also a record). He will also improve on his record of 61 Tests as a hooker.
Percy Montgomery - 654 points in tests; 98 conversions, 115 penalty goals - will improve his record 66 Tests as a fullback. Montgomery needs two conversions to improve Johan Heunis' record of six career conversions against England.
Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha will improve the record they shared with Mark Andrews and Krynauw Otto with their 26th test match as a lock pairing.
White will also equal Nick Mallett's record of 38 Test matches as coach of the Springboks.
South Africa: 15 Percy Montgomery, 14 Ashwin Willemse, 13 Wynand Olivier, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Butch James, 9 Ricky Januarie, 8 Danie Rossouw, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 BJ Botha, John Smit (c), Deon Carstens:
Replacements: 16 Gurthro Steenkamp, 17 Gary Botha, 18 CJ van der Linde, 19 Johann Muller, 20 Pierre Spies, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Francois Steyn.
Date: Saturday 26 May
Venue: Vodacom Park, Bloemfontein
Kick-off: 15:00 (13:00 GMT)
Referee: Steve Walsh (New Zealand)
Touch judges: Joël Jutge (France), Malcolm Changleng (Scotland)
Television match official: Derek Bevan (Wales)
Assessor: Tappe Henning (South Africa)
Planet Rugby
*Disclaimer - Views expressed within this story are not necessarily the views of this Blog
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