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Cape Town - Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer has told flyhalf Handre Pollard that he will be the deciding factor in Saturday's Rugby World Cup clash against Samoa on Saturday.
The 21-year-old was on Wednesday picked at pivot while Patrick Lambie moves to the bench, and Meyer revealed at Wednesday's team announcement that he had spoken privately to Pollard and told him that he would have the biggest say in the match.
Meyer referred to Pollard as "one of the best attacking flyhalves in the world", but added that his defensive capabilities would also be a major factor in the match.
"They (Samoa) like to attack the No 10 channel," Meyer said.
The coach added that he was excited about the prospect of the halfback pairing of Pollard and Fourie du Preez working together.
Pollard replaced Lambie in the 58th minute against Japan on Saturday when the Boks were leading 22-19.
Saturday's clash kicks off at 17:45.
Teams:
South Africa
15 Willie le Roux, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jean de Villiers (captain), 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Beast Mtawarira
Substitutes: 16 Schalk Brits, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Frans Malherbe, 19 Lood de Jager, 20 Siya Kolisi, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Jesse Kriel
Samoa
TBA
