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Cape Town - Scotland coach Vern Cotter has named his team to tackle the Springboks in a Pool B Rugby World Cup clash in Newcastle on Saturday (kick-off 17:45 SA time).
For the second week running Cotter has announced ten changes to the starting line-up, however there is a familiar feel to the squad, with just four players set for their first outing in the 2015 tournament.
New arrival, Blair Cowan (flank), prop Gordon Reid and centre Richie Vernon will all start their first match of the campaign in place of John Hardie - who continues the return-to-play protocol - Ryan Grant and Mark Bennett, while Edinburgh Rugby scrumhalf Sam Hidalgo-Clyne could join them from the bench.
Three further changes have been made to the starting back division: captain Greig Laidlaw returns at scrumhalf, where he’ll partner fellow half-back Duncan Weir; a replacement for Finn Russell who continues to recover from an ankle injury.
Wing Tommy Seymour starts in place of Sean Maitland, where he’ll join Tim Visser and Stuart Hogg in the back-three - the latter the only player to start all three matches for Scotland thus far.
Up front, hooker Fraser Brown gets the start that evaded him against USA, when a back-row injury forced a late rotation.
He is joined by South African-born prop WP Nel - who switches roles with Jon Welsh once again - while the rested Jonny Gray returns to start alongside brother Richie, in place of the injured Grant Gilchrist (groin).
Another South African-born player, Josh Strauss, moves to the blindside flank at the expense of Alasdair Strokosch, to accommodate No 8 David Denton.
“This is a massive test for our team. Playing South Africa is one of the biggest challenges you can face as a rugby player. We’ll need to be very good on the day,” Cotter told Scottish Rugby’s official website.
Teams:
South Africa:
15 Willie le Roux, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Fourie du Preez (captain), 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira
Substitutes: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Frans Malherbe, 19 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 20 Willem Alberts, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Jan Serfontein
Scotland:
15 Stuart Hogg, 14 Tommy Seymour, 13 Richie Vernon, 12 Matt Scott, 11 Tim Visser, 10 Duncan Weir, 9 Greig Laidlaw (captain), 8 David Denton, 7 Blair Cowan, 6 Josh Strauss, 5 Jonny Gray, 4 Richie Gray, 3 WP Nel, 2 Fraser Brown, 1 Gordon Reid
Substitutes: 16 Ross Ford, 17 Alasdair Dickinson, 18 Jon Welsh, 19 Tim Swinson, 20 Ryan Wilson, 21 Sam Hidalgo-Clyne, 22 Peter Horne, 23 Sean Lamont
