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Lood eases Bok lock concerns

Cape Town - Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer has been vocal about his concerns at lock, but those worries are eased somewhat by the return of Lood de Jager to the match day squad for this Saturday's Rugby Championship clash against the Wallabies in Brisbane.

Against the World XV last weekend Victor Matfield partnered Eben Etzebeth - the likely pairing for this year's Rugby World Cup - but there was limited cover off the bench as it came in the form of loose forward Oupa Mohoje. 

Pieter-Steph du Toit continues to recover from a long-term knee injury while the Lions' Franco Mostert was excluded from the touring squad to Australia. 

De Jager, though, is back despite having played just nine Super Rugby minutes for the Cheetahs this season before leaving the field with an elbow injury in the first weekend of Super Rugby. 

"It’s great to have Lood back. We’ve been struggling at lock," Meyer said from Brisbane on Wednesday.

"Last year he had a brilliant season and unfortunately got injured in the first or second Super Rugby game so he hasn’t played for a long time.

"It was a 50/50 call to play him last week but he’s not match fit. He’s in superb condition so it’s a relief that he’s back. I’m hoping for a big game from him.

"He’s exciting, he’s big … it’s great to see him back and I think he’ll have a great game coming from the bench."

Saturday's match kicks off at 12:05. 

Teams:

Australia:

TBA

South Africa:

15 Willie le Roux, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Schalk Burger, 7 Marcell Coetzee, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Victor Matfield (captain), 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Beast Mtawarira.

Substitutes: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Heinke van der Merwe, 18 Frans Malherbe, 19 Lood de Jager, 20 Oupa Mohoje, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Lwazi Mvovo

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