EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP) — South Africa made two changes to its run-on team for Saturday's test against Scotland, giving starts to France-based prop Gurthro Steenkamp and Currie Cup-winning center Juan de Jongh.
Steenkamp replaced CJ van der Linde in the No. 1 jersey having last played for the Springboks over a year ago before joining Toulouse. De Jongh, a tryscorer for Western Province in the Currie Cup final, comes in for Jaco Taute at outside center.
Captain Jean de Villiers was again at inside center after Springbok management was considering resting the skipper. Pat Lambie was given another chance at flyhalf ahead of South Africa's most capped No. 10, Morne Steyn. Steyn was on the bench.
South Africa's second-half surge carried it to a 16-12 win over Ireland in Dublin last weekend to start its three-game tour. The Springboks lost 21-17 on their last visit to Murrayfield in 2010. Coach Heyneke Meyer said Steenkamp, the 2010 South African player of the year, would have been selected against Ireland but for injury. The 31-year-old forward's last game for the Boks was the defeat to Australia in the World Cup quarterfinals in October 2011.
"It's great to have Gurthro back," Meyer said. "Gurthro is experienced, knows the conditions well and is looking forward to returning to the green and gold." De Jongh, an elusive midfield runner, also hasn't started a test since last year despite coming off the bench in this year's Rugby Championship.
Van der Linde and Taute both dropped to the bench, while another prop, Heinke van der Merwe, retained his place among the reserves after Tendai Mtawarira returned home with a recurrence of mild heart palpitations.
Having needed to rally from 12-3 down to beat the Irish, South Africa is looking for much-needed momentum from the remainder of its tour after a disappointing first southern hemisphere season under Meyer.
"Our focus has been on improving from our performance against Ireland last week," Meyer said, and expected a "massive battle" against Scotland. Although they lost 55-21 to world champion New Zealand on Sunday, Scotland scored three tries against the No. 1-ranked All Blacks, more than any other team this year.
South Africa: Zane Kirchner, JP Pietersen, Juan de Jongh, Jean de Villiers (captain), Francois Hougaard, Pat Lambie, Ruan Pienaar; Duane Vermeulen, Willem Alberts, Francois Louw, Juandre Kruger, Eben Etzebeth, Jannie du Plessis, Adriaan Strauss, Gurthro Steenkamp. Reserves: Schalk Brits, Heinke van der Merwe, CJ van der Linde, Flip van der Merwe, Marcell Coetzee, Morne Steyn, Jaco Taute, Lwazi Mvovo.
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