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Boks backing Willemse's confidence, diligence at Twickenham

Cape Town - Springbok captain Siya Kolisi, with 37 Test caps to his name and at 27-years-old, will take to the Twickenham turf for the first time in Saturday's clash against England. 

He was injured when the Boks were there in 2016 and didn't feature in the 2015 World Cup, and he spoke on Friday about how excited he was to finally set foot on one of world rugby's most historic grounds. 

Damian Willemse, meanwhile, is in a different situation entirely. 

Still just 20, the Stormers playmaker will start a Test match for the first time in his short career. 

Having played most of Super Rugby this year at flyhalf with the Stormers, Willemse will start at fullback in a match where his Test credentials are certain to be tested. 

It is as big ask for such a youngster, but Kolisi is going into the match with no concerns.

"He is young but he's very confident," Kolisi said of one of South African rugby's brightest young prospects.

"I don't really worry about him because he is very mature.

"The way he looks at clips, studies the game and trains gives me so much confidence.

"I don't want to put any added pressure on him, but I'm looking forward to seeing what he does and he's going to learn a lot."

Kick-off is at 17:00 (SA time). 

Teams:

England

15 Elliot Daly, 14 Jack Nowell, 13 Henry Slade, 12 Ben Te’o, 11 Jonny May, 10 Owen Farrell (co-captain), 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Mark Wilson, 7 Tom Curry, 6 Brad Shields, 5 George Kruis, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Kyle Sinckler, 2 Dylan Hartley (co-captain), 1 Alec Hepburn 

Substitutes: 16 Jamie George, 17 Ben Moon, 18 Harry Williams, 19 Charlie Ewels, 20 Zach Mercer, 21 Danny Care, 22 George Ford, 23 Chris Ashton

South Africa

15 Damian Willemse, 14 S’bu Nkosi, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Aphiwe Dyantyi, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Warren Whiteley, 7 Duane Vermeulen, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Steven Kitshoff

Substitutes: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Thomas du Toit, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Lood de Jager, 21 Embrose Papier, 22 Elton Jantjies, 23 André Esterhuizen 

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Yes! Siya will only be 36 at the next World Cup. He can make it!
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