Allister Coetzee's Springboks will fight to avoid becoming the first South Africa side to lose a home test series against Ireland as the sides prepare to do battle one last time at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Saturday.
Allister Coetzee's Springboks will fight to avoid becoming the first South Africa side to lose a home test series against Ireland as the sides prepare to do battle one last time at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium on Saturday.
The match, which kicks off at 5 pm South African time, will see Lions duo Warren Whiteley (no.8) and Ruan Combrinck (wing) handed their first Springbok starts.
Whiteley and Combrinck have excelled in this year's Super Rugby competition, which currently sees the Lions sitting atop the South African conference.
However, despite holding the Lions captaincy, Whiteley was named on the bench for the bench for the first two tests – while Combrinck was not even named in the matchday 23 for the first game – a 26-20 defeat at Newlands.
When Combrinck did get his chance last Saturday at Emirates Airline Park – coming on as a substitute for Lwazi Mvovo – he grabbed it with both hands, scoring a try and claiming the Man of the Match award on debut.
The impressive display did not go unnoticed by Coetzee, who promoted Combrinck to the starting lineup for this week's clash, dropping Mvovo to the bench. Coetzee brought Whiteley into the side for Duane Vermeulen, who is out with a shoulder injury.
Apart from these changes, Coetzee has retained the starting XV that beat Ireland 32-26 in Johannesburg. However, the same cannot be said of Ireland coach Joe Schmidt, who has shaken his side up drastically.
CJ Stander returns to the side at no.6 after serving a one-match suspension for his late tackle on Patrick Lambie at Newlands, while fellow South African-born player Quinn Roux drops out of the matchday 23.
Iain Henderson moves to no.5 to accomodate Stander, while Jordi Murphy replaces Rhys Ruddock at no.7.
Full-back Jared Payne and centre Robbie Henshaw have been forced out of the side by injuries, and have been replaced by Tiernan O'Halloran and Luke Marshall respectively.
Keith Earls comes back into the team, replacing Craig Gilroy at no.11, while prop Mike Ross replaces Tadhg Furlong – who was given a starting birth in Johannesburg after impressing at Newlands.
Although the series is currently poised at 1-1, Coetzee is likely to feel significantly more pressure than his opposite number. Schmidt has little to lose, having already becoming the first Ireland coach to record an away win against the Springboks in the first test.
However, regardless of the result, Coetzee is expected to get a hero's reception when he visits Grahamstown, his town of birth, on Tuesday.
Teams:
South Africa:
1. Tendai Mtawarira
2. Adriaan Strauss (C)
3. Frans Malherbe
4. Eben Etzebeth
5. Pieter-Steph du Toit
6. Francois Louw
7. Siya Kolisi
8. Warren Whiteley
9. Faf de Klerk
10. Elton Jantjies
11. Ruan Combrinck
12. Damian de Allende
13. Lionel Mapoe
14. JP Pietersen
15. Willie Le Roux
Bench:
16. Bongi Mbonambi
17. Steven Kitshoff
18. Julian Redelinghuys
19. Franco Mostert
20. Jaco Kriel
21. Rudy Paige
22. Morné Steyn
23. Lwazi Mvovo
Ireland:
1 Jack McGrath
2 Rory Best (C)
3 Mike Ross
4 Iain Henderson
5 Devin Toner
6 CJ Stander
7 Jordi Murphy
8 Jamie Heaslip
9 Conor Murray
10 Paddy Jackson
11 Keith Earls
12 Stuart Olding
13 Luke Marshall
14 Andrew Trimble
15 Tiernan O'Halloran
Bench:
16 Sean Cronin
17 Finlay Bealham
18 Tadhg Furlong
19 Ultan Dillane
20 Rhys Ruddock
21 Eoin Morgan
22 Ian Madigan
23 Matt Healy
Like Grocott's Mail Sport on Facebook and follow @GrocottsSport on Twitter to follow both the test match in Port Elizabeth and Coetzee's return to his Grahamstown roots.
