South Africa will start with hooker Joseph Dweba in Sunday's second Rugby Championship fixture against the All Blacks, after Bongi Mbonambi withdrew from the side named on Wednesday due to a knee injury picked up in training.
The severity of the injury is not yet known but Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber says that, rather than wait on the outcome of scans, they have decided to draft Dweba in for his third test cap.
Nienaber has resisted the temptation to include Malcolm Marx, who was man of the match in the 26-10 victory over the All Blacks in Nelspruit last weekend, from the start and he remains among the replacements.
"Joseph has been working hard at training and he's been waiting patiently for his chance, and we feel that it doesn't get better than facing the All Blacks, who are one of the best teams in the world," Nienaber said in a media release from South African Rugby.
South Africa: 1-Ox Nche, 2-Joseph Dweba, 3-Frans Malherbe, 4-Eben Etzebeth, 5-Lood de Jager, 6-Siya Kolisi (captain), 7-Pieter-Steph du Toit, 8-Duane Vermeulen, 9-Jaden Hendrikse, 10-Handre Pollard, 11-Makazole Mapimpi, 12-Damian de Allende, 13-Lukhanyo Am, 14-Jesse Kriel, 15-Damian Willemse
Replacements: 16-Malcolm Marx, 17-Steven Kitshoff, 18-Vincent Koch, 19-Franco Mostert, 20-Jasper Wiese, 21-Kwagga Smith, 22-Hershel Jantjies, 23-Willie le Roux.
Reuters.
