Pat Lambie will start at flyhalf for the Springboks against Ireland at Newlands on Saturday.
Elton Jantjies, who passed a fitness test on Thursday, should make his return from a finger injury off the bench.
Coach Allister Coetzee has included six players in the match 23 who did not feature at the World Cup last year – Faf de Klerk, Jantjies, Warren Whiteley, Julian Redelinghuys and Lionel Mapoe, who will earn his first start for the Boks, as well as Bongi Mbonambi, who will make his Test debut if he comes off the bench.
Coetzee said he was looking forward to De Klerk's first Test.
'I have no doubt Faf will do a fantastic job. He has lots of experience around him in the form of Pat next to him and Duane [Vermeulen] at the back of the scrum. So in that sense he will be looked after, but I know Faf can also look after himself.
'Both our flyhalves, Pat and Elton, have been in outstanding form in the Super Rugby competition and it’s great to have both of them available and in the match-day squad. To have a right- and left-foot kicker at halfback is always a good option.'
Eight players in the run-on team started for the Springboks against Argentina in the third-place playoff at last year's World Cup – Mtawarira, Malherbe, Etzebeth, Louw, Vermeulen, De Allende, Pietersen and Le Roux.
'I am excited about the composition of the team and the players selected are rewarded for their consistently good performances in Super Rugby,' said Coetzee. 'We’ve worked extremely hard these past two weeks to become a team and to make sure we cover all the necessary areas so we can face the Irish.
'The big test will come up front where we will have to make sure that we do well at the set pieces, especially the scrums and lineouts. Those are the areas where the Irish have been strong, so we want to compete there and set a platform so our backs can hopefully get into their rhythm.'
Springboks – 15 Willie le Roux, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Pat Lambie, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Siya Kolisi, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Adriaan Strauss (c), 1 Beast Mtawarira.
Subs: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Julian Redelinghuys, 19 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 20 Warren Whiteley, 21 Rudy Paige, 22 Elton Jantjies, 23 Jesse Kriel.
Photo: Ashley Vlotman/Gallo Images
