Faf de Klerk named in South Africa side for first Ireland Test
Thursday 9 June 2016 15:35, UK
Lions scrum-half Faf de Klerk will make his South Africa debut against Ireland in Cape Town on Saturday.
De Klerk is one of six players who will feature at Newlands who were not part of South Africa's World Cup squad late last year as coach Allister Coetzee looks to the future of Springbok rugby.
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Lionel Mapoe will make his first Test start at centre while Elton Jantjies - who has passed a fitness test on a knee injury - Warren Whiteley, Julian Redelinghuys and uncapped hooker Bongi Mbonambi are among the replacements.
Coetzee is looking forward to seeing how 24-year-old De Klerk gets on in a half-back pairing with the experienced Pat Lambie.
"I have no doubt Faf will do a fantastic job," said Coetzee. "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 fly-halves, Pat and Elton, have been in outstanding form in Super Rugby and it's great to have both of them available and in the matchday squad. To have a right and left foot kicker at half-back is always a good option."
Hooker Adriaan Strauss will become the 57th captain in Springbok history, leading out a team including a total of eight players who were involved in their last match, the World Cup bronze medal game in England where South Africa beat Argentina 24-13.
Coetzee is pleased with the balance of his team, a couple of retirements and high-profile injuries having given him a chance to make use of some younger players.
"I am excited about the composition of the team and the players selected are rewarded for their consistently good performances in Super Rugby," he added.
"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 set pieces, especially at scrum 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."
South Africa 15 Willie le Roux, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Pat Lambie, 9 Faf de Klerk; 1 Tendai Mtawarira, 2 Adriaan Strauss (c), 3 Frans Malherbe, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 5 Lood de Jager, 6 Francois Louw, 7 Siya Kolisi, 8 Duane Vermuelen.
Replacements: 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.
