- The Springboks are backing Duane Vermeulen to start against the Wallabies on Saturday while Frans Steyn returns to the bench.
- Both players are short on game time following their respective returns from injury.
- Coach Jacques Nienaber, though, says he is satisfied with where they both are.
Duane Vermeulen retains his place at No 8 while Frans Steyn is included on the bench for Saturday's Rugby Championship clash against the Wallabies in Adelaide, and coach Jacques Nienaber says he is satisfied with where both Springbok veterans are despite a lack of game time.
Vermeulen lasted just 30 minutes at Ellis Park in the Boks' 35-23 loss to New Zealand two weekends ago before he was substituted, looking off the pace in his first fixture since the minor knee surgery that kept him out of the entire Wales series.
Vermeulen's last match before that came in mid-June in the semi-finals of the United Rugby Championship when he played for Ulster against the Stormers in Cape Town.
Steyn, meanwhile, was injured in a Currie Cup clash for the Cheetahs against Griquas back on 28 May, and he has also not played since.
His inclusion helps the Boks move away from the 6/2 forwards/backs split they have employed this season to the 5/3, which also sees the return of Elton Jantjies since the first Test against Wales.
15 Damian Willemse, 14 Warrick Gelant, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Ox Nche
Substitutes: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Franco Mostert, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Jaden Hendrikse, 22 Elton Jantjies, 23 Frans Steyn
Addressing media in Adelaide on Monday, Nienaber said he was pleased with how Vermeulen had come on at training.
"We definitely expect more minutes from Duane this weekend," he said.
"He's been training well, and we're looking forward to seeing him again. We all know what quality he is and the experience he brings to the team. We had a good week with him."
Turning his attention to Steyn, Nienaber said it had always been the plan to get him involved when he had completed his rehabilitation from a hamstring injury.
"We said in the Wales series he needed to get through his rehab and that he was a guy we would bring into the squad the moment he's done his rehab and back to full fitness. Before we got him into our squad he was busy with pre-season with the Cheetahs," Nienaber explained.
"We're happy with where he is currently at."
Nienaber also pointed to the difficulties that came with playing the Rugby Championship when there was no domestic rugby ongoing in terms of how that impacted players returning to full fitness.
"Not having game time is, unfortunately where we are in terms of playing the Rugby Championship now," he said.
"We compete internationally in the southern hemisphere, but from franchise level, we compete in the northern hemisphere. Our seasons are a little bit misaligned in terms of that, and it's the same for Duane.
"There is no club rugby currently where we can let our players play and see where they are.
"We can only see it in training sessions, and that's why we push the intensity at training as high as we can and as close to match intensity as possible to make an assessment on players. We wouldn't have selected Frans if we didn't think he was up to standard.
"It's a nice opportunity to see what Frans can bring to the table. We know last year when we played New Zealand, Frans came on in the last 40 minutes when we beat them here in Australia, and he had an unbelievable game."
Kick-off on Saturday is at 07:30 (SA time).