South Africa v Wales: Teams

Wales skipper Sam Warburton is relishing the breakdown battle with South Africa's Heinrich Brussow in Wellington on Sunday.

Warburton is one of the rising stars in the world game, with his talents and leadership ability set to see him become the youngest captain ever in RWC history.

And Sunday's encounter with the Springboks will allow him the stage to showcase his talents to a wider audience - with his openside war Brussow set to be a feature of the match.

Brussow is classed in the same bracket as Richie McCaw and David Pocock - and Warburton can't wait to go head-to-head with the 25-year-old.

"I haven't played against Brussow yet, but I have been watching clips of him and he is incredibly effective in that area (the breakdown), said Warburton.

"He's one of the better players in the world at the breakdown at the moment."

The main surprises in the Wales line-up come with Rhys Priestland starting at fly-half and James Hook handed the No.15 jersey, while in the pack Luke Charteris is preferred to Bradley Davies.

Strengths

South Africa have made no secret of their intentions to attack Wales up front - with coach Peter de Villiers naming five forwards among the replacements.

Bakkies Botha has been ruled out through injury, but Danie Rossouw comes in, while the likes of Willem Alberts, Bismarck du Plessis and Johann Muller will look to make an impact off the bench.

De Villiers said: "The first game, there are a few things we want to try out. I believe we've got a really strong bench.

"You like to play to your strengths, and that's the reason we went for that (five forwards).

"We know what we want to achieve out of this game, and the make-up of the bench actually goes for that."

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 Schalk Burger, 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Danie Rossouw, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 John Smit (c), 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Gurthrö Steenkamp, 18 CJ van der Linde, 19 Johann Muller, 20 Willem Alberts, 21 Francois Hougaard, 22 Butch James.

Wales: 15 James Hook, 14 George North, 13 Jonathan Davies, 12 Jamie Roberts, 11 Shane Williams, 10 Rhys Priestland, 9 Mike Phillips, 8 Toby Faletau, 7 Sam Warburton (c), 6 Danny Lydiate, 5 Alun Wyn Jones, 4 Luke Charteris, 3 Adam Jones, 2 Huw Bennett, 1 Paul James
Replacements:16 Lloyd Burns, 17 Ryan Bevington, 18 Bradley Davies, 19 Andy Powell, 20 Tavis Knoyle, 21 Scott Williams, 22 Leigh Halfpenny.