Matfield to lead Boks vs Samoa (RWC)

Victor Matfield (pictured below) will captain the Springbok team to play Samoa in the deciding Rugby World Cup Pool D clash at North Harbour Stadium in Auckland on Friday.

Matfield returns from a hamstring strain – after a two-match absence – as one of seven changes to the team that defeated Namibia 87-0 at the same venue on Thursday.

He assumes the captaincy in place of John Smit, who drops to the bench, in a pre-planned move to allow Bismarck du Plessis to start his first match of the tournament.

The Springboks need at least one point from the match to be sure of qualifying for the quarterfinals.

There are five changes in the pack as Du Plessis is partnered with the returning Tendai Mtawarira and brother Jannie du Plessis in an all-Sharks front row. The final change among the forwards sees the return of Heinrich Brüssow to the back row.

Bakkies Botha was unavailable for selection after injuring a hamstring against Namibia but the remaining four forwards (Smit, CJ van der Linde, Gurthrö Steenkamp, Willem Alberts) all drop to the bench.

JP Pietersen and Fourie du Preez return to the starting line-up among the back division while the versatile Francois Hougaard drops to the bench where he is joined by the fit-again Jean de Villiers as the two backline replacements in a 5/2 split on the bench.

Friday’s match kicks off at 20h30 (09h30 SA time).

South Africa v Samoa, 30 September 2011, North Harbour Stadium, Auckland

No	Player	Province	Caps	RWC caps
15	Pat Lambie	KwaZulu-Natal	9	2
14	JP Pietersen	KwaZulu-Natal	40	9
13	Jaque Fourie	Western Province	67	13
12	Frans Steyn	Racing Metro, France	46	10
11	Bryan Habana	Western Province	72	9
10	Morné Steyn	Blue Bulls	32	3
9	Fourie du Preez	Blue Bulls	60	9
8	Pierre Spies	Blue Bulls	45	3
7	Schalk Burger	Western Province	66	11
6	Heinrich Brüssow	Free State	18	3
5	Victor Matfield (captain)	Blue Bulls	108	12
4	Danie Rossouw	Blue Bulls	61	13
3	Jannie du Plessis	KwaZulu-Natal	28	4
2	Bismarck du Plessis	KwaZulu-Natal	40	7
1	Tendai Mtawarira	KwaZulu-Natal	31	3
Replacements
16	John Smit	KwaZulu-Natal	109	15
17	Gurthrö Steenkamp	Blue Bulls	36	5
18	CJ van der Linde	Golden Lions	73	7
19	Willem Alberts	KwaZulu-Natal	7	3
20	Francois Louw	Bath, England	9	2
21	Francois Hougaard	Blue Bulls	13	3
22	Jean de Villiers	Western Province	70	2