DHL Stormers and WP captain Jean de Villiers will on Saturday join four other South Africans when he leads the team out in his 100th Test – against New Zealand at the Westpac Stadium in Wellington (kick-off 09h35 SA time).
The Springbok match-23 to face New Zealand shows only one change from last weekend, with Bulls starlet Handré Pollard starting at flyhalf.
The 33-year-old De Villiers will become the 34th Test player to reach this milestone. With him on the field will be two of the four South African centurions – the most-capped Springbok of all time, Victor Matfield (114 caps) and former DHL WP ace Bryan Habana, who reached this special milestone last weekend against Australia in Perth.
The other two Springbok centurions are John Smit (111) and another former Province man, Percy Montgomery (102).
Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer lauded De Villiers, not only for the role he had played since taking over as captain in 2012, but also during the rest of his career, on the field and away from it.
“When the big names in South African rugby are mentioned, Jean will forever be among them,” said Meyer, who named four DHL WP players in his matchday squad; De Villiers, Eben Etzebeth, Duane Vermeulen and Damian de Allende.
“He’s showed a lot of character and resilience to get here and to me, those are things that set him apart. Jean is not only an extremely good rugby player, but he’s also one of the greatest captains I’ve ever worked with.
“Jean is also a true ambassador for South Africa. To see how he is respected all over the world, is truly humbling and our fellow countrymen can be proud of him.
“Despite all of the success and responsibility, he’s never lost that sparkle in his eye and he treats everyone around him with respect.”
De Villiers, the SA Rugby Player of the Year in 2008 and 2013, will line up next to Pollard, whose inclusion in the starting line-up is the only change from the team which played in Perth last weekend. The bench is unchanged.
“We felt that Handré has the right skill set for how we want to approach this game,” said Meyer.
“He played well in the three Tests that he started. A couple of months ago, he was named the World Junior Player of the Year after some very impressive performances here for the Junior Springboks and I’m sure he can build on that.
“It’s also good for continuity to have an almost unchanged side. We know where we made mistakes last weekend and the players now have an opportunity to rectify those against the toughest opponent in world rugby.”
The Springbok team to face New Zealand in Wellington is:
15. Willie le Roux – 18 caps
14. Cornal Hendricks – 6 caps
13. Jan Serfontein – 13 caps
12. Jean de Villiers (captain) – 99 caps
11. Bryan Habana – 100 caps
10. Handré Pollard – 3 caps
9. Ruan Pienaar – 79 caps
8. Duane Vermeulen – 22 caps
7. Marcell Coetzee – 19 caps
6. Francois Louw – 33 caps
5. Victor Matfield (vice-captain) – 114 caps
4. Eben Etzebeth – 26 caps
3. Jannie du Plessis – 57 caps
2. Adriaan Strauss – 37 caps
1. Tendai Mtawarira – 58 caps
Replacements:
16. Bismarck du Plessis – 63 caps
17. Trevor Nyankane – 6 caps
18. Marcel van der Merwe – 2 caps
19. Lood de Jager – 6 caps
20. Warren Whiteley – 1 cap
21. Francois Hougaard – 29 caps
22. Pat Lambie – 33 caps
23. Damian de Allende – 2 caps
Referee: Jérôme Garcès (France)
Assistant referees: Pascal Gauzère (France), Rohan Hoffmann (Australia)
Television Match Official: Peter Marshall (Australia)
