Friday 28th September 2007
One of the worst kept secrets were confirmed on Friday when Springbok coach Jake White named a near full-strength team to face the United States at Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier, in their final World Cup pool match on Sunday.
As expected Schalk Burger, who missed the matches against England and Tonga through suspension, is back in the starting XV - at number eight.
He takes the place of the injured Danie Rossouw, who suffered a knock to the neck against Tonga.
With Burger ar number eight, Juan Smith and Wikus van Heerden will scrum down at flank.
The other noteworthy selections are at lock and prop.
Albert van den Berg will partner Victor Matfield in the second row, with Matfield's regular partner Bakkies Botha getting a break on the bench.
At tighthead prop BJ Botha starts ahead of CJ van der Linde.
And Akona Ndungane will have his first start of the tournament, on the right wing, ahead of JP Pietersen.
The absence of Rossouw, who played at number eight in the Boks' first two World Cup matches and then on the flank against Tonga, means the Bok coach may stumble upon his best loose forward combination by accident.
Burger has played at number eight before, but how he will combine with Van Heerden, one of the few genuine openside flankers in South Africa, and Smith could have a significant impact on the Bok campaign in the play-offs.
Van Heerden plays towards the ball and his ability to turn over ball at the breakdown has seen him force his way into White's preferred starting XV - despite not being in the initial World Cup squad.
When White decided to rest his frontline players for the away leg of the Tri-Nations in mid-year Van Heerden grabbed the opportunity and forced his way into the World Cup squad. He started the tournament as a bench player and now he has a chance to cement a starting place.
Burger's all-action, bustling style of play and know defensive capabilities means he could even be a better bet than Rossouw at number eight - with the latter's ball-carrying abilities his major asset.
Smith has established himself as South Africa's first choice blindside flank during White's reign and his ball-carrying and line-out abilities mean the loss of Rossouw may not be such a huge factor.
Smith also runs clever support lines and has an outstanding work rate.
The Bok team shows 13 changes from the largely second-string line-up that squeezed past Tonga 30-25 last week.
Van den Berg at lock and Van Heerden on the flank are the two players to be retained.
The back-line is completely refreshed, with all the star players - fullback Percy Montgomery, winger Bryan Habana and scrum-half Fourie du Preez - all back.
Hooker John Smit returns as captain and takes the armband off number eight Bobby Skinstad, who is demoted to the bench.
The Springboks, who have a 100 per cent record this tournament, have already qualified for the quarter-finals by finishing top of their pool.
South Africa: 15 Percy Montgomery, 14 Akona Ndungane, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Francois Steyn, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Butch James, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Schalk Burger, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Wikus van Heerden, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Albert van den Berg, 3 BJ Botha, 2 John Smit, 1 Os du Randt.
Replacements: 16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 CJ van der Linde, 18 Bakkies Botha, 19 Bobby Skinstad, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 André Pretorius, 22 JP Pietersen
23rd man: Wynand Olivier
Date: Sunday, 30 September
Venue: Stade de la Mosson, Montpellier
Kick-off: 20.00 (18.00 GMT, 19.00 BST)
Referee: Tony Spreadbury (England)
Touch judges: Paul Marks (Australia), Federico Cuesta (Argentina)
Television match official: Malcolm Changleng (Scotland)
Assessor: Ian Scotney/Stuart Beissel
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