Duane Vermeulen will lead the Springboks for the third time in their opening Castle Lager Rugby Championship clash against Australia at Loftus Versfeld Stadium on Saturday.
Vermeulen will captain a team featuring a core of Rugby World Cup winners and talented newcomers – who have excelled at vital moments in the past few seasons. The squad also includes a debutant in former Ireland international lock Jean Kleyn, who will earn his first Springbok Test cap.
“We had a few options as potential captains and we have two good leaders in Duane and Lukhanyo, who has been named vice-captain for this match,” said Nienaber.
“They are both quality leaders and they’ll have a lot of experience around them on the field, which is fantastic for us as coaches.
“Our plan from the outset was to select a squad that we believe has what it takes to beat Australia while at the same time selecting a group of players that could travel to New Zealand to give us the best possible chance to do well in both matches.
Vermeulen, who captained the Springboks against Argentina and the All Blacks in 2019, takes over the armband from the injured Siya Kolisi, and forms a powerful loose trio against the Wallabies with Pieter-Steph du Toit and Van Staden.
Springbok team:
Willie le Roux (Toyota Verblitz), Canan Moodie (Vodacom Bulls), Lukhanyo Am (Cell C Sharks), Andre Esterhuizen (Harlequins), Kurt-Lee Arendse (Vodacom Bulls), Manie Libbok (DHL Stormers), Cobus Reinach (Montpellier), Duane Vermeulen (captain, Ulster), Pieter-Steph du Toit (Toyota Verblitz), Marco van Staden (Vodacom Bulls), Marvin Orie (DHL Stormers), Jean Kleyn (Munster), Frans Malherbe (DHL Stormers), Bongi Mbonambi (Cell C Sharks), Ox Nche (Cell C Sharks)
Replacements:
Joseph Dweba (DHL Stormers), Thomas du Toit (Cell C Sharks), Vincent Koch (Stade Francais), RG Snyman (Munster), Evan Roos (DHL Stormers), Deon Fourie (DHL Stormers), Grant Williams (Cell C Sharks), Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers)
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