Springbok inside centre Frans Steyn and prop Coenie Oosthuizen have been ruled out of Saturday's Test against the Wallabies.
Steyn rolled his ankle in training in Pretoria on Monday and has been an injury doubt all week. He failed a fitness test at Friday's captain's run.
Captain Jean de Villiers moves to number 12 with Lions youngster Jaco Taute set to make his international debut in the outside centre channel.
Juan de Jongh takes Taute's place on the bench. Oosthuizen, who was named on the bench, has been replaced by Pat Cilliers.
"Coenie, who played 35 minutes of rugby for the Free State Cheetahs last weekend, had stiffness in the neck and shoulder area after the game," said Bok coach Heyneke Meyer.
"After sitting out training on Monday, he felt much better and took part in the field sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday, but based on the nature of his injury and the initial symptoms early in the week, we felt that it would be better to withdraw him from the Test.
"Coenie is a young player who has a lot of rugby ahead of him and with injuries like these it's always better to gradually build him back to full match fitness."
Commenting on the injuries, Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer said: "Losing Frans and Coenie so close to the Test is a big setback, but we will always consider player welfare first. I'm very excited to see what Jaco will bring to this team and it's great to have an experienced player like Juan as back-up. Pat has been part of this squad for almost two months now and he will slot in easily."
The Springboks will be playing with black arm bands on Saturday and a minute's silence will be observed in the stadium before kick-off to commemorate the life of Malome Maimane, the Springbok Technical Adviser from 2008 to 2011, who recently passed away.
South African (revised): 15 Zane Kirchner, 14 Bryan Habana, 13 Jaco Taute, 12 Jean de Villiers (captain), 11 Francois Hougaard, 10 Johan Goosen, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Andries Bekker, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Tiaan Liebenberg, 17 Pat Cilliers , 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Marcell Coetzee, 20 Elton Jantjies, 21 Juan de Jongh, 22 Pat Lambie.
Date: Saturday, September 29
Venue: Loftus Versfeld, Pretoria
Kick-off: 17.00 (15.00 GMT ; 01.00 NSW/ACT)
Weather: Dry. Clear skies, 21°C
Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Assistant referees: Romain Poite (France), Greg Garner (England)
TMO: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa)
Comments
JayStarr says...
@ rugby_rockstar: Taute is a big boy and very fast. However, he's not a 'ball carrier' like Francois Steyn - if he has the space he'll rather step around players than run into them. And even if they get their hands on him it's hard to bring him down, because he is very strong on his feet - almost like some NZ backs. If he sees he can't run around or through the guys infront of him he often chips the ball and then chases - and often wins the race. That's one of his tradmarks. Very exciting player to watch. He has a big boot too.
Posted 21:57 28th September 2012
JayStarr says...
Juan de Jongh is either going to score or create a try when he comes on...
Nobody is expecting anything from him - not the fans, not the coach, not Australia - and there is no pressure on him whatsoever, except the pressure he puts on himself. He has been in fine form for Stormers and WP in his last few games, scoring or creating tries in almost every game. With a point to prove, on a dry and broken field, watch him - that hand-off, that step, over.
And I wouldn't be surprised if Lambie also steals the show when he comes on - for similar reasons.
That, of course, is if HM actually gives them any game time at all... Something he seems adamant to not do.
Posted 21:48 28th September 2012
Jensrsa says...
Great to see Jaco there. The young guns stepping up with six player 22 or younger.
rugby_rockstar: Taute is big (106kg) and fast (100m in 10.7s). Powerful runner, more a Jaque Fourie style centre than a twinkle toes.
Posted 15:45 28th September 2012
scot_rsa says...
Agree with daibok, using JdJ would bring together a proven centre pairing and satisfy quota restrictions allowing Kirchner to be replaced. That sounds bad but JdJ ain't a quota and deserves a start, a true 13. Odd that we're criticising HM for being too experimental. Shame about Coenie but right call by Meyer.
Posted 15:39 28th September 2012
Carpelone says...
@ masar.
I think you have a point.
Posted 15:24 28th September 2012
daibok says...
Would have preferred Dejongh at 13, Lambie at 15 and Taute on the bench. Whatever happens I hope the back subs get a chance to show some impact this time.
Posted 14:58 28th September 2012
Carpelone says...
I do not him much, we will see tomorrow.
I have to agree with letsgoboks, JdV at 12 is a much better player (not better than Steyn, though), and Taute can not be worse than JdV at 13.
Posted 14:21 28th September 2012
masar says...
what's the reasoning behind starting him right away and not juan de gongh who's been on the bench and training with the team?
Posted 14:10 28th September 2012
rugby_rockstar says...
SA fans: what's Jaco Taute like? Fast? Power Runner? Distributor? Kicking Game? Big Hitter / Good Defender? How is he at turning over ball?
Posted 13:18 28th September 2012
letsgoboks says...
This is good news!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted 13:14 28th September 2012