Pollard is set to become the 64th Springbok captain with the regular skipper, Siya Kolisi, not being selected for the Test. A total of 14 changes were made to the starting team which beat Wales 32-29 in Pretoria last week.

The World Cup winning flyhalf, Pollard, is a part of the leadership group within the team and has on occasion taken over the captaincy during the game.

Nienaber feels that the two players leadership styles complement each other.

“We're not giving Siya a rest; we have a plan that we want to execute. We discussed our plan. It's purely a case of having boxes to tick and having an idea of how we want to eventually end this series without compromising performance. That's the big challenge.

“Handré is a leader. He's our vice-captain, so it's a normal role for him. He's definitely a natural choice for this responsibility.

“Siya and Handré work well and closely together and they complement each other.

“Handré brings more detail - I'm not saying Siya isn't detailed, but Handré is perhaps more overtly orientated in that way.

 “He'll always be armed with info. He'll know exactly what's everyone's role for a match.”

“Handré will know that he'll have to bring a bit to the party. To be honest, I believe much of that will have to be based on what Siya traditionally brings to a match in terms of leadership.”

Saturday’s Test at the Toyota Stadium kicks off at 17:05.

Springboks - 15 Warrick Gelant, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Aphelele Fassi, 10 Handré Pollard (captain), 9 Jaden Hendrikse, 8 Evan Roos, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Marcell Coetzee, 5 Marvin Orie, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Trevor Nyakane, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Thomas du Toit.

Replacements - 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Ntuthuko Mchunu, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Ruan Nortjé, 20 Rynhardt Elstadt, 21 Deon Fourie, 22 Grant Williams, 23 Damian Willemse.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport