Kriel led the Boks in last week’s 54-7 victory over the Barbarians in Cape Town, but that match was uncapped, meaning he is not officially recognised as South Africa’s 67th national captain.

Kriel has been outstanding for more than a year and has consistently delivered strong performances over an extended period.

He says captaining South Africa in a Test is a massive honour and a privilege.

“It's obviously very special,” Kriel said.

“I think all of those other things are in the past, and we’ve got a Test match to focus on tomorrow. I’m very excited. I was just saying earlier that I’m in such a fortunate position, having such strong leaders around me.

“I must say, guys like Siya have been incredible – Eben (Etzebeth), Handré (Pollard)... you can go through the whole team. There’s so much experience, and the guys are always willing to help, give advice, and just be there when you need someone to bounce an idea off.

Jesse Kriel. Photo: X

“I’m extremely lucky in that sense, and I’m very proud to lead a team where I can honestly call a lot of the guys some of my best friends. It’s a really special occasion and something I’m incredibly proud of.”

Saturday’s 17th Test between the Springboks and Italy at Loftus Versfeld kicks off at 17:10.

Springboks - 15 Damian Willemse, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Morné van den Berg, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Vincent Tshituka, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nché

Replacements - 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 RG Snyman, 20 Franco Mostert, 21 Kwagga Smith, 22 Faf de Klerk, 23 Willie le Roux

Italy - 15 Jacopo Trulla, 14 Louis Lynagh, 13 Tommaso Menoncello, 12 Marco Zanon, 11 Simone Gesi, 10 Giacomo Da Re, 9 Alessandro Fusco, 8 Lorenzo Cannone, 7 Manuel Zuliani, 6 Alessandro Izekor, 5 Andrea Zambonin, 4 Niccolò Cannone, 3 Simone Ferrari, 2 Tommaso Di Bartolomeo, 1 Danilo Fischetti

Replacements - 16 Pablo Dimcheff, 17 Mirco Spagnolo, 18 Muhamed Hasa, 19 Matteo Canali, 20 Ross Vintcent, 21 David Odia`se, 22 Alessandro Garbisi, 23 Giulio Bertaccini

OFM Sport/Morgan Piek cg