South Africa name No 8 Duane Vermeulen in side to face France
Thursday 16 November 2017 16:36, UK
Duane Vermeulen has been drafted straight into the South Africa side as coach Allister Coetzee made changes for Saturday’s Test against France in Paris.
Toulon-based No 8 Vermeulen was called up on Sunday to bolster the Springboks squad after they were thrashed 38-3 by Ireland in Dublin in the first of their four Tests in Europe.
Bulls fly-half Handre Pollard was also restored to the starting XV, having fully recovered after a string of injuries over the last 18 months, and will earn his 24th cap at the Stade de France after Elton Jantjies was dropped following the defeat in Dublin.
It will be the first start for the 23-year-old Pollard since the 2015 Rugby World Cup.
Damian de Allende was also benched with Francois Venter taking his place at centre, while Wilco Louw earns a first start at prop.
Louw came on after just two minutes at the Aviva Stadium last Saturday when Coenie Oosthuizen suffered a serious knee injury that has ruled him out of the rest of the tour.
Vermeulen starts his first Test since mid-2016 in a reshuffled back row, with Francois Louw moving to flanker to replace Pieter-Steph du Toit, who was ruled out with concussion.
"Duane is very experienced and fits in well with our plan for Saturday," said Coetzee.
"He is a great lineout and ball-carrying option to fill the void left by Pieter-Steph, while his leadership and experience will offer great support to Eben Etzebeth."
South Africa beat France 3-0 in a Test series on home soil this year.
"We have to fight back and play much better after our poor performance against Ireland," added Coetzee.
"France is a much changed and improved side and will certainly pose a different challenge this time."
South Africa: 15 Andries Coetzee, 14 Dillyn Leyds, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Francois Venter, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Ross Cronje; 1 Tendai Mtawarira, 2 Malcolm Marx, 3 Wilco Louw, 4 Eben Etzebeth (c), 5 Lood de Jager, 6 Francois Louw, 7 Siya Kolisi 8 Duane Vermeulen.
Replacements: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Trevor Nyakane, 19 Franco Mostert, 20 Dan du Preez, 21 Rudy Paige, 22 Elton Jantjies, 23 Damian de Allende
