On Monday the Toyota Cheetahs centre was named on the Boks bench for what will be his 75th Test.

The two-time World Cup winner hasn’t played any rugby since picking up an injury against the Griquas in Kimberley late in May. This injury proved to be very disruptive to the Cheetahs Currie Cup campaign which ultimately saw them being knocked out in the semi-finals by the eventual champions, the Pumas.

Nienaber told OFM Sport that his is happy with the 35-year-olds fitness.

“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.

“We're happy with where he is currently at.

“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.”

Meanwhile, Nienaber made just two changes to the starting XV with Warrick Gelant and Faf de Klerk running on.

Saturday’s Test at the Adelaide Oval kicks off at 7:30.

Wallabies - TBA

Springboks – 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Warrick Gelant, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Joseph Dweba, 1 Ox Nché.

Replacements – 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Franco Mostert, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Jaden Hendrikse, 22 Elton Jantjies, 23 Frans Steyn.

Morgan Piek OFM Sport