Du Preez to lead Springboks in Newcastle

De Villiers received an unintentional shoulder to his jaw in the Boks’ World Cup clash last Saturday against Samoa which resulted in yet another injury for perhaps the unluckiest player in the storied history of Springbok rugby.

Coach Heyneke Meyer said that losing two experienced captains in one week had been a severe blow but that the squad included a number of highly capable deputies.

South Africa coach Heyneke Meyer faces a new injury dilemma replacing captain Jean de Villiers for their key World Cup game against Scotland on Saturday.

Du Preez, living up to his billing as a man of few words, added simply: “If we don’t win this game it is probably the end of our World Cup, so we don’t need any additional focus”.

“Jean has fought back from all his injuries and this is the kind of character and fighting spirit we will need to show going forward in this competition”. They are both great leaders who go about their work in contrasting ways and I think they will work extremely well in tandem.

“The performance against Samoa was much better, but Scotland have been impressive in their victories over Japan and the United States of America”, he said.

Jean de Villiers successfully completed the first step on his return to playing rugby when he underwent surgery on his broken jaw in Cape Town on Wednesday. JP Pietersen, 13. Jesse Kriel, 12.

Centres Damian de Allende and Jesse Kriel are both fit to start the match. Bryan Habana (112 caps) is the only centurion that remains in the starting line-up. Fourie du Preez (c), 8. But in Lood de Jager, Matfield’s replacement, South Africa have a young lock whose partnership with Eben Etzebeth could become the best in the world given a couple of years together.

The front row of Tendai Mtawarira/Bismarck du Plessis/Jannie du Plessis will be deployed for the 20th time, extending the Springbok record for a front row. Bismarck du Plessis, 1. Trevor Nyakane, 18. Frans Malherbe, 19. Willem Alberts, 21. Ruan Pienaar, 22.