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Cape Town - The experienced boot of Morne Steyn could prove vital for the Springboks in Saturday’s Test against Argentina in Salta, coach Allister Coetzee believes.
Steyn, who boasts 61 Test caps, was included on the bench in place of Juan de Jongh, giving the Springboks an extra kicking option.
The only other change to the Springbok match-day 23 which beat Argentina 30-23 in Nelspruit last weekend sees the inclusion of Vincent Koch at tighthead prop.
Koch, who has three Test caps to his name, comes in for Redelinghuys who has been ruled out of action with a hamstring injury.
Explaining his decision to include Steyn on the bench, Coetzee said on Wednesday: “We expect them to try and put us under pressure with their tactical kicking. Morne is an experienced player with good kicking attributes, and he will provide an additional kicking cover for us.
“I just feel that Morne brings a lot of calmness, in a sense of appreciating the conditions here in Salta. He proved last year with his kicking prowess that he can turn a side like Argentina around. He can capitalise when the opportunity is there to put points on the board. He’s done that and he’s been around. He’s an experienced player."
De Jongh was unlucky to miss out though, the coach insisted.
“Unfortunately Juan de Jongh is missing out because Jesse Kriel is covering 13 and 15 for us. The reason is simple. You’ve got to give Elton Jantjies (first-choice flyhalf) enough opportunity and support. It’s only his sixth Test cap as a 10. So he’s also learning lessons... hopefully the progress will come this week.”
Kick-off for Saturday’s clash is scheduled for 21:40 (SA time).
Teams:
Argentina
TBA
Springboks
15 Johan Goosen, 14 Ruan Combrinck, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Warren Whiteley, 7 Oupa Mohoje, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Tendai Mtawarira
Substitutes: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Lourens Adriaanse, 19 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 20 Jaco Kriel, 21 Rudy Paige, 22 Morne Steyn, 23, Jesse Kriel
