Cape Town - Springbok coach Peter de Villiers, has opted for experience in selecting his starting XV to face France in Saturday's Test at Newlands.

De Villiers said expectations in the country were always high and that's why he decided that experience, rather than experimenting, would be the best way to go for Saturday's Test.

It is for that reason the highly exciting centre Juan de Jongh has been demoted to the reserves' bench to make way for Wynand Olivier.

"Wynand (Olivier) has four or five years experience behind him," said De Villiers.

"I have gone for the best centre combination. There is also the absence of Fourie du Preez and I had to think about creating a comfort zone in his absence.

"There is no room for experimenting now as I regard the Test against France as the toughest on the in-coming Tours programme.

"The toughest part of my job is to get the right team, the right combinations on the field."

Springbok captain John Smit said the French posed a formidable challenge because they were strong, both upfront and out wide.

"This French side is a champion side and they have a team that can win on any given Saturday," said Smit.

"They are pretty good in most facets of the game. We are going to feed off the excitement generated by the excitement of the World Cup," said Smit.

Jean de Villiers, who missed the Welsh Test because of injury, has been included on the bench, alongside Flip van der Merwe, who will be making his Bok debut should he take to the field.

Teams:

South Africa:

15. Zane Kirchner, 14. Gio Aplon, 13. Jaque Fourie, 12. Wynand Olivier, 11. Bryan Habana, 10. Morné Steyn, 9. Ricky Januarie, 8. Pierre Spies, 7. Francois Louw, 6. Schalk Burger, 5. Victor Matfield, 4. Danie Rossouw, 3. BJ Botha, 2. John Smit (captain), 1. Gurthrö Steenkamp

Substitutes: 16. Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Jannie du Plessis, 18. Flip van der Merwe, 19. Dewald Potgieter, 20. Ruan Pienaar, 21. Juan de Jongh, 22. Jean de Villiers

France:

15. Clement Poitrenaud (Toulouse), 14. Vincent Clerc (Toulouse), 13. David Marty (Perpignan), 12. Maxime Mermoz (Perpignan), 11. Aurelien Rougerie (Clermont), 10. Francois Trinh-Duc (Montpellier), 9. Morgan Parra (Clermont), 8. Julien Bonnaire (Clermont), 7. Wenceslas Lauret (Biarritz), 6. Thierry Dusautoir (Toulouse, captain), 5. Romain Millo-Chluski (Toulouse), 4. Lionel Nallet (Racing-Metro), 3. Nicolas Mas (Perpignan), 2. Dimitri Szarzewski (Stade Francais), 1. Thomas Domingo (Clermont)

Substitutes: 16. Guilhem Guirado (Perpignan), 17. Jean-Baptiste Poux (Toulouse), 18. Julien Pierre (Clermont), 19. Louis Picamoles (Toulouse), 20. Dimitri Yachvili (Biarritz), 21. David Skrela (Toulouse), 22. Marc Andreu (Castres)