Frans Malherbe

Lwazi Mvovo

Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer decided to keep continuity for South Africa’s final Rugby World Cup Pool B match.

The Springboks face the United States at London’s Olympic Stadium on Wednesday.

The starting line-up shows only 2 changes from the team that recorded a 34 / 16 victory over Scotland in Newcastle last Saturday.

As a result Frans Malherbe will start his 1st match of the season for South Africa, while Rudy Paige could make his Test debut off the bench against the United States.

Malherbe comes in at tighthead prop for Jannie du Plessis, in the only change to the pack.

The backline shows only 1 personnel change as well – at wing, where Lwazi Mvovo takes over from JP Pietersen, with Bryan Habana moving over to the right wing.

Pietersen was not considered this week due to injury, while a decision was taken to give Du Plessis and Victor Matfield time to get over some niggles due to the short turn-around after the Scotland match.

Joining Paige on the bench is Morné Steyn, who both could get their 1st taste of Rugby World Cup action this year.

Schalk Brits and Coenie Oosthuizen are also back amongst the replacements this week.

“Wednesday’s match against a much-improved United States team is a must-win for us if we want to progress to the quarterfinals which is 1 of the reasons why we decided to go with continuity,” said Meyer.

“We also have a number of players who returned to action from injuries recently and it’s important to give them game-time against an opponent who will physically challenge us this week.

“The performances against Samoa and Scotland were satisfactory, but we will have to make another step up against the United States.”

Meyer said it is pleasing to see Paige and Steyn in the matchday-23 for the 1st time during the tournament, while Mvovo, Oosthuizen and Brits also deserved another run.

“All 5 of them have worked incredibly hard over the last couple of months and deserve this opportunity – it’s now in their hands to make the most of it,” said the Springbok coach.

Springboks: 15 Willie le Roux, 14 Bryan Habana, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Fourie du Preez (Captain), 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira
Replacements: 16 Schalk Brits, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 20 Willem Alberts, 21 Rudy Paige, 22 Morné Steyn, 23 Jan Serfontein.

Date: Wednesday 7 October
Venue: Olympic Park, London
Kick-Off: 17:45 SA Time (16:45 BST, 15:45 GMT, 11:45 US EDT)
Referee: Pascal Gauzère (France)
Assistant Referees: Nigel Owens (Wales), Mike Fraser (New Zealand)
TMO: George Ayoub (Australia)