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Springboks expect Wales backlash

Meshack Khotha

Meshack Khotha

The Springboks regard Wales as a good team and believe the visitors can still bounce back when they meet in the second Test at Loftus stadium tomorrow.

This is despite the visitors' 17-43 defeat at the hands of the Boks in the first Test in Bloemfontein last weekend.

The world champions are bracing themselves for a tough encounter against the wounded Wales, coach Peter de Villiers said at a media briefing in Johannesburg yesterday.

De Villiers believes the Six Nations Champions will pull out all the stops to restore their dented image.

"We had good preparations this week. Our main focus was on the scrumming technique, which was not up to scratch last week," said De Villiers.

Captain John Smit added: "Wales will definitely give us a hard match this time around because they had ample time to watch our video tapes to assess our strengths and weaknesses. But we hope to close them down for the entire match."

The Boks have made four changes to the starting lineup that faced the visitors last week.

Srumhalf Ricky Januarie returns after missing the first match in Durban while Sharks prop Tendai Mtawarira got his first call-up from De Villiers. Prop Brendan Botha and lock Victor Matfield will also start the game.

Starting lineup: Mtawarira, Smit, Brendan Botha, Bakkies Botha, Matfield, Luke Watson, Juan Smith, Pierre Spies, Januarie, Butch James, Bryan Habana, Jean de Villiers, Adrian Jacobs, Tonderai Chavhanga and Conrad Jantjies.

Bench: Bismarck du Plessis, Gurthro Steenkamp, Andries Bekker, Ryan Kankowski, Bolla Conradie, Francois Steyn and Percy Montgomery.

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