SOUTH Africa coach Heyneke Meyer has made one change to his starting lineup to face New Zealand in their Rugby Championship clash in Johannesburg on Saturday.

But he may yet be forced into making another.

Bismarck du Plessis, controversially sent off in New Zealand last year, takes over at hooker from Adriaan Strauss in an otherwise unchanged side from the one that defeated Australia 28-10 in Cape Town at the weekend.

However, a question mark remains over the fitness of number eight Duane Vermeulen, who will be given as much time as possible to recover from a rib cartilage injury sustained against the Wallabies.

Should he fail a late fitness test, he will be replaced from the bench by veteran Schalk Burger, whose position on the bench will go to Warren Whiteley.

"It's been good to build some form of continuity and we'll give Duane as much time as possible before making a final call," Meyer said yesterday.

"He's been one of our best players in the last couple of weeks and is responding well to medical treatment. Schalk's impact last weekend was massive, but so was the rest of the bench and we'll be looking for more of the same on Saturday.

"At hooker, we've decided to rotate Bismarck with Adriaan Strauss, both of whom must rate among the best hookers in the world at the moment."

Meyer said the Springboks would need to be at their best if they were going to be victorious against a New Zealand team beaten just once since lifting the 2011 World Cup.

The SA team:

Willie le Roux, Cornal Hendricks, Jan Serfontein, Jean de Villiers (captain), Bryan Habana, Handre Pollard, Francois Hougaard, Duane Vermeulen/ Schalk Burger, Teboho Mohoje, Marcell Coetzee, Victor Matfield, Eben Etzebeth, Jannie du Plessis, Bismarck du Plessis, Tendai Mtawarira

Replacements: Adriaan Strauss, Trevor Nyakane, Marcel van der Merwe, Bakkies Botha, Schalk Burger/Warren Whiteley, Cobus Reinach, Pat Lambie, JP Pietersen.