London - South Africa made three changes to their side to take on England at Twickenham on Saturday, restoring flyhalf Handre Pollard and lock Lood de Jager to the starting line-up and axing scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies.
Jantjies is replaced by Cobus Reinach, who starts a test for the first time since the Rugby Championship clash against Argentina in August.
Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber described the changes as rotational, but scrumhalf Jantjies struggled in wins over Wales and Scotland and drops to the bench after being substituted at halftime of Saturday’s 30-15 win at Murrayfield.
Pollard replaces Elton Jantjies and De Jager comes in for Franco Mostert in straight swaps from the 23-18 win over Wales.
"We built up good momentum in the tests against Wales and Scotland and it's important for us to transfer that into our final match of the tour against England, so we opted to make only three changes," Nienaber said.
"England will pose a different threat to Scotland, and with that in mind we've decided to start with Handre, Cobus and Lood.
"Elton, Herschel and Franco have shown they can inject energy and ignite a spark in attack off the bench, which will be handy against an English outfit we know will be highly charged up for this match."
Victory for the Springboks will mark their first unbeaten northern hemisphere tour since 2013. The last time they beat England in London was in 2014. They won their last meeting in the World Cup final in Yokohama two years ago.
"England have made it clear they'll come hard at us. With a few British & Irish Lions players in their midst, home advantage and a new record of eight wins in a row against Australia adding to their motivation, it'll be a hard grind," Nienaber added.
Three changes as Boks look for clean sweep on tour
Pollard comes in for Elton Jantjies
Image: Kieran McManus/Shutterstock/BackpagePix
London - South Africa made three changes to their side to take on England at Twickenham on Saturday, restoring flyhalf Handre Pollard and lock Lood de Jager to the starting line-up and axing scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies.
Jantjies is replaced by Cobus Reinach, who starts a test for the first time since the Rugby Championship clash against Argentina in August.
Springbok coach Jacques Nienaber described the changes as rotational, but scrumhalf Jantjies struggled in wins over Wales and Scotland and drops to the bench after being substituted at halftime of Saturday’s 30-15 win at Murrayfield.
Pollard replaces Elton Jantjies and De Jager comes in for Franco Mostert in straight swaps from the 23-18 win over Wales.
"We built up good momentum in the tests against Wales and Scotland and it's important for us to transfer that into our final match of the tour against England, so we opted to make only three changes," Nienaber said.
"England will pose a different threat to Scotland, and with that in mind we've decided to start with Handre, Cobus and Lood.
"Elton, Herschel and Franco have shown they can inject energy and ignite a spark in attack off the bench, which will be handy against an English outfit we know will be highly charged up for this match."
Victory for the Springboks will mark their first unbeaten northern hemisphere tour since 2013. The last time they beat England in London was in 2014. They won their last meeting in the World Cup final in Yokohama two years ago.
"England have made it clear they'll come hard at us. With a few British & Irish Lions players in their midst, home advantage and a new record of eight wins in a row against Australia adding to their motivation, it'll be a hard grind," Nienaber added.
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