Three new faces in South Africa side

Springbok coach Jake White brushed aside injury worries as he handed out three new caps for Saturday’s first Test against Ireland in Bloemfontein.

Scrum-half Fourie du Preez, winger Henno Mentz and tighthead prop Eddie Andrews will all start, but there are still major injury concerns that need to be addressed in the 22-man squad.

Bok tighthead Faan Rautenbach underwent surgery to remove cartilage on his knee last week and is a doubtful starter, while centre and tackling kingpin De Wet Barry twisted his ankle during training.

Pedrie Wannenburg, who missed the midweek practice match against a Central Unions XV, has also been included, as has prop Os du Randt, who has been unable to train.

Of the injured players, Barry’s ankle is a major worry as he will have a key role in the test in trying to stop the Irish midfield duo of Eamonn Darcy and Brian O’Driscoll.

“I would be lying if I said I was not concerned, but at the moment we have to try and be positive and hope that De Wet will be ready to face Ireland,” said White.

“We will know more once he has come back from hospital. That is where he is now and we will not make any decisions either way until we have heard from him.

“Marius and De Wet were an established combination for the Stormers in the Super 12 and they performed well together. To break up the combination would be far from ideal as they were the form players in the competition.

“If we lost De Wet we would be losing experience from an already inexperienced back division.”

Rautenbach was selected when he had not played for several weeks due to injury and has been bracketed with CJ van der Linde. White will make a call later in the week.