South Africa have only played Tests against Italy and Georgia this season, while the Wallabies contested a three-Test series against the British & Irish Lions Down Under. The Australians exceeded expectations in that series by pushing the Lions close in Melbourne before signing off with a victory in Sydney.

Jesse Kriel. Photo: Morgan Piek

There are concerns that the back-to-back World Champions may not be fully battle-hardened, but centre Jesse Kriel has downplayed this. He believes the fierce competition within the squad ensures that training against each other has prepared them well for the intensity awaiting on the Highveld this weekend.

“We have very high standards in this environment, and there’s strong competition for every position,” said Kriel.

“Over the past few weeks, we’ve worked hard on our conditioning and match detail, and we’re confident in our preparation going into the game.”

Kriel is also relishing the chance to line up in midfield alongside the powerful André Esterhuizen – a combination he believes will click quickly, even though he’s more accustomed to partnering Damian de Allende of late.

“It’s no secret that André is devastating with the ball in hand, and he also has a great understanding of the game,” said Kriel, who captained the Springboks earlier this year.

André Esterhuizen. Photo: Morgan Piek

“It’s been great to see how he and Damian have been working together to make each other better. André is a great guy to get us going forward and onto the front foot.”

Saturday’s Test at Ellis Park kicks off at 17:10.

Springboks - 15 Aphelele Fassi, 14 Edwill van der Merwe, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 André Esterhuizen, 11 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10 Manie Libbok, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Siya Kolisi (captain), 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 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 Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 19 Franco Mostert, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Canan Moodie, 23 Damian Willemse

Wallabies - TBA

OFM Sport/Morgan Piek cvs