Bakkies honoured to face Boks

Cape Town - Veteran lock Bakkies Botha says he is honoured to face his former team-mates at Newlands on Saturday.

Botha has been named captain of the World XV as they prepare to face the Springboks.

He leads an experienced side containing former Springboks JJ Engelbrecht (Blue Bulls) and Gurthro Steenkamp (Toulouse), with Flip van der Merwe (Blue Bulls) among the replacements.

Commenting on the occasion, Botha said:

"It’s a big honour for me and a privilege especially as it’s my last game on South African soil and to be leading a quality side onto the pitch.

"For me, it’s not about going out on the pitch and trying to do clever stuff, it’s just about going out with the guys and enjoying it. We want to put a good game together and ask as many questions as possible to prepare the Springboks for next week and the World Cup.

"To lead the team onto the pitch, you don’t get it often and I’m going to enjoy the game, respect the guys next to me and make it a memorable day. We want to get on the plane on Sunday knowing we gave it everything and we are creating memories for life.

"I don’t think many locking combinations have played so much together in history and now Victor (Matfield) and I are on opposite sides and we’re going to shake hands when we’re doing the toss and make more history. It’s very exciting and it’s going to be awesome to see Victor again.”

Kick-off for Saturday’s clash is scheduled for 17:00.

Teams:

Springboks:

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

Substitutes: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Oupa Mohoje, 20 Schalk Burger, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Jean de Villiers

World XV:

15 Delon Armitage, 14 Lachlan Turner, 13 JJ Engelbrecht, 12 Maxime Mermoz, 11 David Smith, 10 Mike Harris, 9 Luke Burgess, 8 Luke Whitelock, 7 Steffon Armitage, 6 Jordan Taufua, 5 Bakkies Botha (captain), 4 Ali Williams, 3 Carl Hayman, 2 Craig Burden, 1 Gurthro Steenkamp

Substitutes: 16 David Roumieu, 17 Alexandre Menini, 18 Petrus du Plessis, 19 Flip Van der Merwe, 20 Louis-Benoit Madaule, 21 Maxime Machenaud, 22 Andrew Horrell, 23 Rudi Wulf