Springbok coach Peter de Villiers will roll out the heavy artillery in the team's opening World Cup match against Wales on Sunday.

He selected three props in a five/two, forward/back split on the bench for the match, but scoffed at suggestions that he was preparing for a forward assault from the Welsh.

Though Jannie du Plessis, John Smit and Tendai Mtawarira predictably make up the run-on front row, De Villiers surprised everyone by opting for the considerable front ranking insurance Bismarck du Plessis, Gurthro Steenkamp and CJ van der Linde provide.

"You have to make a decision where your strength is. That is the reason we went for that. We know what we want to achieve out of this game. The make-up of the bench calls for that. We want to try a few things in the game. I believe we have a strong bench," De Villiers said.

The team contains nine survivors from the starting XV that beat England in the 2007 final - injury preventing other certainties Juan Smith (before the tournament) and Bakkies Botha (this week) from adding to that tally.

Botha was ruled out through an Achilles injury and his place goes to Danie Rossouw.

"You can't replace Bakkies, but we've got Danie who brings you something else and something different. If we pushed Bakkies he could have played, but this is a long tournament," De Villiers said.

Despite being an injury doubt earlier in the week, Victor Matfield will advance his test cap record to 108 on Sunday, with captain John Smit just one behind.

"Victor and Bryan [Habana] were always ready to go," De Villiers assured about the players who were doubtful selections earlier in the week.

When the Boks run out against Wales on Sunday, it will be almost four years to the day - actually four years and two days - since they started their 2007 campaign against Samoa.

Despite establishing himself as the longtime go-to player at inside centre, that match was Jean de Villiers' only World Cup game in a 69-test career and Sunday's clash will be a poignant return for the popular inside centre.

With a combined total of 815 caps, this is the most experienced Springbok test team yet.

Springbok team to play Wales: Frans Steyn; JP Pietersen, Jaque Fourie, Jean de Villiers, Bryan Habana; Morne Steyn, Fourie du Preez; Pierre Spies, Schalk Burger, Heinrich Brussow; Victor Matfield, Danie Rossouw; Jannie du Plessis, John Smit, Tendai Mtwarira. Substitutes: Bismarck du Plessis, Gurthro Steenkamp, CJ van der Linde, Johann Muller, Willem Alberts; Francois Hougaard, Butch James.