Eben Etzebeth will captain South Africa in their opening Autumn Test against Scotland on Sunday, with regular skipper Siya Kolisi starting on the bench.
Locks Franco Mostert and RG Snyman return for the world champions after long spells on the sidelines due to injury, while former Harlequins centre Andre Esterhuizen starts.
Rassie Erasmus has gone for a 7-1 split on the bench in a squad featuring 12 of the 23 from the group that faced Scotland at the World Cup in Marseille 14 months ago.
“This is a seasoned and quality team and adding to that 21 of the 23 players have won a Rugby World Cup title, with some having won two, so they know what it takes to perform at this level,” said Erasmus.
“Many of these combinations have also played together this season either during the Castle Lager Incoming Series and Rugby Championship, or both, which will be valuable against a quality team such as Scotland.
“We are expecting an extremely physical match, so we opted for a seven-one split of forwards on the bench and this was aided by the fact that we have such versatile players in the backline, who can cover different positions if necessary.”
Number eight Kwagga Smith will make his 50th appearance for the Springboks. “Kwagga is a vastly talented player and a fantastic team member, and I’m delighted to see him reach this big career milestone,” Erasmus added.
“It takes a special player who performs consistently well over a few years to reach this achievement and Kwagga has certainly done so while maintaining the same high standards at training and on the field. We are very proud of him.”
Sunday’s Scottish Gas Murrayfield clash is the first of three Tests in the UK for South Africa this month, with matches against England and Wales to follow.
— Springboks (@Springboks) November 8, 2024
South Africa team to play Scotland
Forwards: 1 Ox Nche (Hollywoodbets Sharks), 2 Bongi Mbonambi (Hollywoodbets Sharks), 3 Thomas du Toit (Bath), 4 Eben Etzebeth (Captain, Hollywoodbets Sharks), 5 Franco Mostert (Honda Heat), 6 Marco van Staden (Vodacom Bulls), 7 Elrigh Louw (Vodacom Bulls), 8 Kwagga Smith (Shizuoka Blue Revs)
Backs: 9 Jaden Hendrikse (Hollywoodbets Sharks), 10 Handre Pollard (Leicester Tigers), 11 Makazole Mapimpi (Hollywoodbets Sharks), 12 Andre Esterhuizen (Hollywoodbets Sharks), 13 Lukhanyo Am (Hollywoodbets Sharks), 14 Canan Moodie (Vodacom Bulls), 15 Willie le Roux (Vodacom Bulls)
Replacements: 16 Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears), 17 Gerhard Steenekamp (Vodacom Bulls), 18 Vincent Koch (Hollywoodbets Sharks), 19 RG Snyman (Leinster), 20 Siya Kolisi (Hollywoodbets Sharks), 21 Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz), 22 Jasper Wiese (Urayasu D-Rocks), 23 Grant Williams (Hollywoodbets Sharks)