Publications
Partners
Cape Town - Though he was reluctant to give him the title, Springbok coach Allister Coetzee has named flyhalf Patrick Lambie as his vice-captain for Saturday's Test against Ireland in Cape Town.
Lambie was named in the starting lineup ahead of in-form Lions playmaker Elton Jantjies, and he will be leading the backs while Adriaan Strauss takes on the captaincy from the front row.
When asked who his vice-captain would be after announcing his squad on Thursday, Coetzee was a little reluctant to use the title.
"Patrick Lambie will be calling the shots at the back," said Coetzee.
"We've got basically a leadership group of Adriaan Strauss as the captain, obviously, and Duane (Vermeulen) will be supporting him. But Patrick Lambie will definitely be the leader in the back.
"He doesn't have to have a position to be something ... he knows he runs the division at the back there."
Lambie has notched up exactly 50 caps for the Springboks since making his Test debut back in 2010, making him the fourth-most experienced member of the matchday 23 for Saturday behind Tendai Mtawarira (75), JP Pietersen (66) and Strauss (54).
Teams:
South Africa
15 Willie le Roux, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Pat Lambie, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Siya Kolisi, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1 Tendai Mtawarira
Substitutes: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Julian Redelinghuys, 19 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 20 Warren Whiteley, 21 Rudy Paige 22 Elton Jantjies, 23 Jesse Kriel
Ireland
15 Jared Payne, 14 Andrew Trimble, 13 Robbie Henshaw, 12 Luke Marshall, 11 Keith Earls, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Conor Murray, 8 Jamie Heaslip, 7 Jordi Murphy, 6 CJ Stander, 5 Devin Toner, 4 Iain Henderson, 3 Mike Ross, 2 Rory Best (captain) 1 Jack McGrath
Substitutes: 16 Sean Cronin, 17 Finlay Bealham, 18 Tadhg Furlong, 19 Ultan Dillane, 20 Rhys Ruddock, 21 Kieran Marmion 22 Ian Madigan, 23 Craig Gilroy
