No changes for Springboks
Tuesday 4 August 2009 15:05, UK
South Africa coach Peter de Villiers has named an unchanged team to face Australia at Newlands.
De Villiers keeps faith in the side that beat All Blacks
South Africa coach Peter de Villiers has named an unchanged team to face Australia at Newlands. That means record-breaker Morne Steyn retains his place in the line-up after landing all South Africa's points in the 31-19 victory over New Zealand. Steyn's rival for the No.10 jersey Ruan Pienaar returns to the squad on the bench in place of Wynand Olivier. And despite having backed Pienaar as his first choice No.10 at the start of the Tri-Nations, de Villiers admitted tinkering with his line-up would have been harsh on the side that beat New Zealand. "Ruan Pienaar has always been part of our plans, but I think it would be doing the players who played last week an injustice to change the side," said de Villiers.Competition
"In the current environment, if you lose your spot through injury it's hard to win it back. That's the sort of competition in the side at present and it's healthy and the way we want it." The Springboks go into the game on the back of successive wins over the All Blacks. And de Villiers is expecting the Wallabies to pose his side different problems. "They will be patient and keep the ball through the phases a lot longer and see if there are some holes for them to probe," he said. "That's just one element of their game though. "They'll also be difficult customers at the scrums. They would rather give away a penalty there than be dominated. They'll also be good at the line-outs and breakdowns. "But on their given day, anyone can win the game. If we not at our best, and they are at their best... it's going to be a great challenge." South Africa: 15 Frans Steyn, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 John Smit (c), 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.Replacements: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Jannie du Plessis, 18 Andries Bekker, 19 Danie Rossouw, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 Adi Jacobs, 22 Wynand Olivier.
