South Africa have named an unchanged side from the one that defeated Wales, to face New Zealand in this Saturday's World Cup semi final in Twickenham.
Head coach Heyneke Meyer named the team earlier today, that he hopes will help the Springboks reach their first World Cup final since 2007.
BREAKING NEWS #RSA name an unchanged team to take on #NZL in Saturday's #RWC2015 semi-final at Twickenham pic.twitter.com/Fan2wOrJRh
— Rugby World Cup (@rugbyworldcup) October 21, 2015
The team announcement means the Ulster scrum half Ruan Pienaar starts from the bench against behind Fourie de Preez. Pienaar's only start in the tournament so far came against Japan in their opening game. There is no place in the match day squad for Leinster's Zane Kirchner.
Meyer told the South African official website that he is expecting an intense game on Saturday.
“Tests against New Zealand are very intense and the margins over the last couple of years have been small. We’re not expecting anything different this weekend and the self-belief is there. Everyone in our group is massively excited about Saturday’s challenge. For many players this will be an once-in-a-lifetime occasion and we want to go out there and make it count in front of what will be a magnificent crowd at a superb stadium.”
South Africa Team to face New Zealand:
15. Willie le Roux
14. JP Pietersen
13. Jesse Kriel
12. Damian De Allende
11. Bryan Habana
10. Handré Pollard
9. Fourie du Preez (captain)
8. Duane Vermeulen
7. Schalk Burger (vice-captain)
6. Francois Louw
5. Lood de Jager
4. Eben Etzebeth
3. Frans Malherbe
2. Bismarck du Plessis
1. Tendai Mtawarira
Replacements:
16. Adriaan Strauss
17. Trevor Nyakane
18. Jannie du Plessis
19. Victor Matfield
20. Willem Alberts
21. Ruan Pienaar
22. Pat Lambie
23. Jan Serfontein
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