South Africa make three changes for New Zealand clash

South Africa coach Heyneke Meyer has made three changes to his pack for Saturday's Rugby Championship clash with New Zealand in Johannesburg.

There are another five changes to the bench following last weekend's 24-20 defeat to Australia.

Heinrich Brussow will make his first appearance for South Africa since 2011 on the blindside flank. On the other side of the back-row, Francois Louw moves to the blindside in place of the injured Marcell Coetzee.

The third change is in the second row, where Lood de Jager takes over from Victor Matfield. With Matfield injured, Schalk Burger has been handed the captaincy.

Vincent Koch, Cornal Hendricks, Trevor Nyakane, Flip van der Merwe and Warren Whiteley come onto the bench. 

Meyer said: "Injuries have forced our hand a bit, but we've stuck with our planned rotational policy on the bench and it will be great to see what Heinrich, Vincent and Flip can do.

"The breakdown battle will again be huge and it will be good to see Heinrich and Francois play together. They are versatile players and I am convinced they will combine perfectly.

"Heinrich has been great this season before he got injured and played his way into contention. As with other players returning from injury in Vodacom Super Rugby, he deserves an opportunity. We decided it was better to start with him and use Warren as an impact player later in the match.

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"This will be a massive Test - every match against the All Blacks is. We played some great rugby last weekend, but this week we have to put in an 80-minute effort.

"We have to be especially focused in the last 10 minutes, because New Zealand always finish strongly. They travelled here with us so that negates any advantage we could have had at the end of the match.

"The challenge will also be to make a step up in vital areas of the game and get back on the winning track. By not making too many changes this week, we're giving some combinations the opportunity to settle a bit more. Our youngsters will have to put up their hands on Saturday, I would not have selected them if I didn't believe they can do the job."

South Africa: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 1 Tendai Mtawarira, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 5 Lood de Jager, 6 Heinrich Brussow, 7 Francois Louw, 8 Schalk Burger (c).

Replacements: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Flip van der Merwe, 20 Warren Whiteley, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Cornal Hendricks.

Watch South Africa v New Zealand in the Rugby Championship live on Sky Sports 1 HD from 3.30pm on Saturday.