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Durban - Springbok centre Jan Serfontein believes his untried midfield partnership with JP Pietersen can flourish, despite both players set to start in their positions for the first time at international level against Wales on Saturday (17:05 kick-off).
The Bulls star had played all of his nine Tests off the bench, but gained a chance at inside centre following the sudden withdrawal of Frans Steyn from the squad on Tuesday.
Sharks wing Pietersen, meanwhile, would be next to him at outside centre - occupying the spot for the first time in an official Test, after also playing there against the World XV last week.
"JP's a good player and can adapt to outside centre quite easily," said Serfontein.
"He's a guy that has pace and strength, which are important aspects if you want to do well in the midfield.
"I'm very comfortable at 12. So I don't expect any problems."
With the suddenness of Steyn's decision, it had also meant the new centre combination had had little time to train alongside each other.
"We've done well together at training," said the 21-year-old.
"JP's a senior guy and talks a lot of sense. That helps with things I can improve and I think he has the attributes for a great 13. I'm looking forward to the combination."
The introduction of Serfontein for Steyn was one of three changes made by Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer to his side which beat a World XV 47-13 in Cape Town last weekend.
France-based prop Gurthro Steenkamp was picked ahead of Tendai Mtawarira to win his 50th cap at Kings Park, while Fourie du Preez replaced Ruan Pienaar at scrumhalf.
Uncapped wing Cornal Hendricks was one of two debutants in the match-day 23, with his Cheetahs team-mate and lock Lood de Jager playing off the bench.
Meyer had been forced into fielding Serfontein and Pietersen due to several injuries at centre. Captain Jean de Villiers, Jaque Fourie and Juan de Jongh were all currently sidelined.
They would be coming up against one of the better midfield combinations in world rugby - Jamie Roberts and Jonathan Davies.
However, Serfontein felt they were well-equipped to face the two, while also pointing out flyhalf Morne Steyn, whom he had played with in the past at the Bulls, would be running alongside him.
"Jamie Roberts is a big centre, he's over 100kg, so they're obviously going to use him to get front foot ball from the first phase," he said.
"But I think we're well prepared, we went through our defence this week and it went pretty well.
"Playing next to Morné (Steyn), we played Super Rugby together last year, so we understand each other pretty well on defence and attack."
He also insisted he was ready to step up to the plate, nearly 18 months after bursting onto the Super Rugby scene.
"I learnt a lot under guys like Jean and Jaque.
"I've also gained a lot from playing more Super Rugby games this year. I think I've made a step up and am in a better position now."
Teams:
Springboks:
15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 JP Pietersen, 12 Jan Serfontein, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Victor Matfield (captain), 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Gurthrö Steenkamp
Substitutes: 16 Schalk Brits, 17 Tendai Mtawarira, 18 Coenie Oosthuizen, 19 Lood de Jager, 20 Schalk Burger, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Johan Goosen, 23 Lwazi Mvovo
Wales:
15-Liam Williams, 14-Alex Cuthbert, 13-Jonathan Davies, 12-Jamie Roberts, 11-George North, 10-Dan Biggar, 9-Mike Phillips, 8-Taulupe Faletau, 7-Aaron Shingler, 6-Dan Lydiate, 5-Alun Wyn Jones (captain), 4-Luke Charteris, 3-Adam Jones, 2-Ken Owens, 1-Gethin Jenkins
Substitutes: 16-Matthew Rees, 17-Paul James, 18-Samson Lee, 19-Ian Evans, 20-Josh Turnbull, 21-Gareth Davies, 22-James Hook, 23-Matthew Morgan
