Pieter-Steph du Toit will start at blindside flank for the Springboks against Japan after Willem Alberts injured his calf during the captain’s run.

Du Toit's place on the bench goes to Eben Etzebeth.

'Willem felt some discomfort during the captain’s run and we took him out of the session as a precautionary measure,' said Springbok team doctor Craig Roberts. 'We reassessed him again this morning and decided it would be better to withdraw him from the team.'

As a result of Alberts’ withdrawal, the starting team now only has a combined total of 851 Test caps. It is still more than the previous most experienced Springbok side (836 caps), which played in South Africa’s last World Cup match against Australia in Wellington.

Springboks (revised) – 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Lwazi Mvovo, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Jean de Villiers (c), 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Pat Lambie, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Schalk Burger, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Lood de Jager, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Beast Mtawarira.
Subs: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 Eben Etzebeth, 20 Siya Kolisi, 21 Fourie du Preez, 22 Handré Pollard, 23 JP Pietersen.

Photo: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images