Thursday 8 September 2016 11:02, UK
South Africa coach Allister Coetzee named Francois Hougaard, Juan de Jongh and Jesse Kriel for the Rugby Championship Test against Australia in Brisbane on Saturday.
The changes come after the Springboks suffered a 26-24 loss to Argentina in Salta two weeks ago. One change is due to injury while another is a positional switch.
Hougaard comes into the side as a replacement for Ruan Combrinck, who fractured his leg against the Pumas, and he will play on the left wing, pushing Bryan Habana on to the right flank.
The new centre combination of De Jongh and Kriel gets a run in place of Damian de Allende and Lionel Mapoe, who is on the replacements bench.
De Jongh and Kriel both featured as substitutes for South Africa in the first two Tests against Argentina, in Nelspruit and Salta.
In the only change amongst the forwards, tighthead prop Lourens Adriaanse will earn his first start for the Springboks in place of Vincent Koch, while lock Eben Etzebeth will become the youngest player ever to play 50 Tests for South Africa.
Etzebeth reaches the mark at the age of 24 years, nine months and 12 days, surpassing the record previously held by Pat Lambie.
Coetzee said he was excited to see what impact the new players could make.
"Looking at the impact that Juan and Jesse made when they came off the bench in Nelspruit and Salta, then I think now is the right time to give them a starting opportunity," he said.
"It's a great opportunity for them to play together as a centre combination and both have Test match experience."
South Africa: 15 Johan Goosen; 14 Bryan Habana, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Juan de Jongh, 11 Francois Hougaard; 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Faf de Klerk; 1 Tendai Mtawarira, 2 Adriaan Strauss (c), 3 Lourens Adriaanse, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 5 Lood de Jager, 6 Francois Louw, 7 Oupa Mohoje, 8 Warren Whiteley,
Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Trevor Nyakane, 19 Franco Mostert, 20 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 21 Jaco Kriel, 22 Morne Steyn, 23 Lionel Mapoe.
