Rassie rings the changes as Springboks name new-look team to face Wallabies

Eben Etzebeth and Ethan Hooker are the only players retained from the team that beat the All Blacks 43-28 in Baltimore, while Andre Esterhuizen will captain South Africa for the first time. Jasper Wiese will earn his 50th Test cap from the replacements bench.

Among the changes is a new-look front row of Jan-Hendrik Wessels, Johan Grobbelaar and Zachary Porthen, while Franco Mostert partners Etzebeth at lock. Paul de Villiers and Elrigh Louw will start at flank, with Marco van Staden at No 8.

Herschel Jantjies and Handre Pollard form a new halfback pairing, while Esterhuizen partners Canan Moodie in midfield and Hooker, Edwill van der Merwe and Aphelele Fassi complete the back three.

Erasmus has selected a strong bench, featuring a number of Bok stalwarts. Malcolm Marx, Ox Nche and Wilco Louw will cover the front row, while Lood de Jager is the replacement lock.

The backline replacements are also packed with star power, with halfback duo Morne van den Berg and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu joined by Quan Horn, who excelled in a playmaker role for the Boks earlier this season against the likes of the Barbarians and Scotland.

"Each player in this squad has been working hard at training over the last few months and have had a chance to play in either the first leg of the Nations Championship or RGR, or both, while guys like Handre and Canan have recovered from injury, and they are all quality players, so we are pleased to give them a run and we are excited to see this team in action," said Erasmus.

"Australia poses a completely different threat to New Zealand in the way they play, so we believe these combinations would be best suited for the challenge that we will face against them."

Erasmus also hailed Esterhuizen's debut as captain, saying it was richly deserved. 

"He captained the Sharks, and he has brought so much to our squad off and on the field, both at centre and in the loose trio, and he thoroughly deserves this opportunity.

"It will also help build our leadership core even more within the team with several players having captained the side over the last few seasons, and we trust that he is the right man to take over the captaincy in this match."

Erasmus expects a tough test against an Australian side that has shown strong form in recent matches.

"This is going to be a big challenge against a team that has been playing good rugby, and who have won four of their last five matches, with their other result being a draw against the Pumas in Argentina.

“They also suffered a narrow defeat against Ireland in the Nations Championship and registered a comprehensive victory over Italy, and they will be playing in front of their home crowd, so we know a big game lies ahead.”

Springboks - 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Canan Moodie, 12 Andre Esterhuizen (c), 11 Ethan Hooker, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Herschel Jantjies, 8 Marco van Staden, 7 Elrigh Louw, 6 Paul de Villiers, 5 Franco Mostert, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Zachary Porthen, 2 Johan Grobbelaar, 1 Jan-Hendrik Wessels.

Replacements: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Ox Nche, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Lood de Jager, 20 Jasper Wiese, 21 Morne van den Berg, 22 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 23 Quan Horn.