White springs surprise for clash with Les Blues

South Africa coach Jake White has sprung a major surprise by including prop Lawrence Sephaka for Saturday’s second Test against France in Port Elizabeth.

The 26-year-old, who has 16 caps to his name, returns to the side after a two-year absence and has been included in place of Eddie Andrews, who had a torrid time in the scrum in last weekend’s 30-30 draw against the French in Durban.

In the other surprise change, White has dropped scrum-half Fourie du Preez for Enrico Januarie despite Du Preez’s starring role in the previous game.

South Africa team: Percy Montgomery; Jean de Villiers, Marius Joubert, De Wet Barry, Bryan Habana; Jaco van der Westhuyzen, Enrico Januarie; Lawrence Sephaka, John Smit (captain), Os du Randt, Albert van der Berg, Victor Matfield, Schalk Burger, Danie Rossouw, Jacques Cronje.

Replacements: CJ van der Linde, Hanyani Shimange, Juan Smith, Joe van Niekerk, Bolla Conradie, Brent Russell, Jaque Fourie.