Francois Louw will start at eighthman in one of three changes to the Springbok starting XV for Saturday’s match against the All Blacks at Loftus.

Louw, who rejoined the squad from Bath earlier this week, comes in for Sikhumbuzo Notshe, who drops to the bench. Up front, Steven Kitshoff will start ahead of Beast Mtawarira at loosehead prop.

In the only change to the backline, inside centre Damian de Allende has recovered from a shoulder injury that kept him out of last Saturday’s match against the Wallabies to replace André Esterhuizen, who falls out of the match 23.

Willie le Roux will earn his 50th Test cap when he starts at fullback, while Vincent Koch will make his first appearance for the Boks since November 2016 if he comes off the bench.

‘Damian has trained very well and took full contact this week, so he is ready,’ said Bok coach Rassie Erasmus. ‘Notshe played well against the Wallabies last weekend and will offer us something different when he goes on, but Flo [Louw] has a lot of experience and is good on the ground.’

ALSO READ: 18 Springbok stats and facts

Erasmus said he is looking forward to seeing Koch get another run in the Springbok jersey.

‘Vincent has learned a lot from playing in northern hemisphere conditions and I am sure he is very keen to pull on that green and gold jersey again. He has a burning desire to play for the Springboks and I am delighted for him as we continue to build our squad depth.’

Springboks – 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Francois Louw, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (c), 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Steven Kitshoff.
Subs: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Beast Mtawarira, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Sikhumbuzo Notshe, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Elton Jantjies, 23 Damian Willemse.

SUPERBRU: Springboks or All Blacks?

Photo: Chris Ricco/BackpagePix