De Allende To Start For Springboks

Heyneke Meyer has named his 23 man squad to play Argentina in Pretoria on Saturday, 16 August.

Damian de Allende will make his Springbok debut next to returning national captain Jean de Villiers, who returns from injury.

De Villiers is one of three returning Springboks who played no part in the Castle Lager Incoming Series because of injury. The others are Frans Malherbe and Eben Etzebeth, who have both been selected on the bench.

Junior Springbok captain Handré Pollard will get his second Test cap when he lines up between the experienced De Villiers and Ruan Pienaar, while Willem Alberts and Tendai Mtawarira are also back after missing the Scotland Test because of injuries.

At lock, Lood de Jager will have to fill the considerable boots of the injured Victor Matfield, but he’ll have the experienced Bakkies Botha next to him.

The Springbok team to face Argentina in Pretoria is:

15. Willie le Roux (15 tests; 35 points)
14. Cornal Hendricks (3 tests; 10 points)
13. Damian de Allende (0 tests; 0 points)
12. Jean de Villiers (captain) 96 tests; 125 points )
11. Bryan Habana (97 tests; 275 points)
10. Handré Pollard (1 test; 13 points)
9. Ruan Pienaar (76 tests; 130 points)
8. Duane Vermeulen (19 tests; 10 points)
7. Willem Alberts (32 tests; 35 points)
6. Francois Louw (30 tests; 25 points)
5. Lood de Jager (3 tests;10 points)
4. Bakkies Botha (79 tests; 35 points)
3. Jannie du Plessis (54 tests; 5 points)
2. Bismarck du Plessis (vice-captain) 60 tests; 45 points)
1. Tendai Mtawarira (55 tests; 10 points)

Replacements:

16. Adriaan Strauss (34 tests 25 points)
17. Trevor Nyakane (4 tests 5 points)
18. Frans Malherbe (2 tests 0 points)
19. Eben Etzebeth (23 tests 0 points)
20. Marcell Coetzee16 tests 10 points)
21. Francois Hougaard (28 tests 20 points)
22. Morné Steyn (56 tests 660 points)
23. Jan Serfontein (12 tests 5 points)