There are five changes overall to the XV, which started against UCT. One is positional and another forced through wing Aaron Denenga’s injury. Luvuyo Mhlobiso moves from left to right wing, while Elwyn Fransman’s promotion from the bench gets him the nr. 11 jersey.

The chances at scrum half (Christiaan van den Berg for Ignick Windvogel) and hooker (Branco Visagie for Kurt Haupt) were unavoidable. Against Ikeys Tuks lost 11 lineout balls on their own throw, while Windvogel had a very indifferent performance at scrum half. In doing so, he put a lot of unnecessary pressure on his 18 year fly half, Juan-Claude Roos.

The descision to move flanker Devin Oosthuizen to the bench, could be a card up Tuks coach Freddie Grobler’s sleeve. Oosthuizen’s new role of impact player is a clear indication of the physical onslaught Tuks prepare for up front as does the 5/2 make-up of the bench.

The team is:

15 Johan Jackson; 14 Elwyn Fransman, 13 Gerhard van der Merwe, 12 Franco Booysen, 11 Luvuyo Mhlobiso; 10 Juan-Claude Roos, 9 Christiaan van den Berg; 8 Willie Nel, 7 Ntokozo Mashele, 6 Danie Crous, 5 Henjo van Niekerk, 4 Johan de Bruin (c), 3 Peet Vorster, 2 Branco Visagie, 1 Ettienne Breytenbach. REPLACEMENTS: 16 Kurt Haupt, 17 Danie Oosthuizen, 18 Peet Bothma, 19 Devin Oosthuizen, 20 Ignick Windvogel, 21 Shaun Davids, 22 Erich van der Westhuizen.