Pat Lambie replaces injured Zane Kirchner at full-back

SPRINGBOK COACH Heyneke Meyer made three changes to the match 22 for Saturday’s second Test against England in Johannesburg.

The only change to the starting 15 is at fullback, Pat Lambie replacing the injured Zane Kirchner. Lambie replaced Kirchner after half-time last week and will play in his 13th Test for South Africa.

On the bench, Werner Kruger comes in for the injured Coenie Oosthuizen, while Bjorn Basson takes over from Lambie amongst the replacements.

Neither Kruger nor Basson featured in last weekend’s first Test in Durban, won by 22-17 by the Springboks. Both played in their last Tests for South Africa against New Zealand on the away leg of the Tri-Nations last year.

“We decided against no unnecessary changes as we aim to build some continuity during this season,” said Meyer.

“We still have not had a lot of preparation time, but I’m pleased to have seen how the players have been getting stuck in – on the training field and during our off-field sessions.

“This weekend will be a big challenge yet again against a good England side, but our focus is still on ourselves. We need to show further improvement from last weekend and have to make a step up this weekend.

“We have confidence in all the players in our squad and that is why Pat, Werner and Bjorn have slotted in easily. Everyone knows what is needed this weekend and they have been very sharp at training. We now need to translate that to the match on Saturday.”

South Africa v England
Saturday, 16 June 2012, at Johannesburg
Kick:off – 16:00 BST

Starting XV:
15 Pat Lambie, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jean de Villiers (C), 12 Frans Steyn, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Francois Hougaard, 1 Tendai Mtawarir, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 5 Juandré Kruger, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 7 Willem Alberts, 8 Pierre Spies,

Replacements:
16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Werner Kruger, 18 Flip van der Merwe, 19 Keegan Daniel, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 Wynand Olivier, 22 Bjorn Basson