New-look Springboks

Traditionally the Tri-Nations has not been the platform for Springbok coaches to introduce untried rookies to the test arena.

But that changed when Bok coach Peter de Villiers named a team with three new caps in the starting XV and another uncapped player on the bench for Saturday's Tri-Nations opener against Australia in Sydney.

To make matters more interesting, the team has only one combination - halfbacks Ruan Pienaar and Morné Steyn - that has played together before.

No 8 Ashley Johnson and props Dean Greyling and Werner Kruger will earn their first Bok caps in a team that is made up of talented individuals, but woefully short of cohesive combinations. Scrumhalf Charl McLeod will earn a first test cap if he gets on the field.

The Springboks have only once fielded three new caps in a Tri-Nations team, in 1996 when centre Andre Snyman, flank Andre Venter and hooker Henry Tromp made their debuts in Durban. The Boks lost 23-19 that day.

Ominously, the last time the Boks started with more than one new cap in a Tri-Nations match they lost 49-0 to Australia in Brisbane in 2006. On that occasion, No 8 Pierre Spies and wing Akona Ndungane made their debuts.

With John Smit at hooker in between the debutant Bulls props, the front row is a new combination while locks Johann Muller and Flip van der Merwe have never played together.

The back row of Johnson, Deon Stegmann and Danie Rossouw is also a combination that has never operated in tandem before. Rossouw has never been asked to play flank in a loose trio combination in which he makes up 54 of their combined 58 caps.

Scrumhalf Pienaar and flyhalf Steyn have started four tests together and, promisingly, were on the winning side in three of those matches on last year's tour of Ireland and Britain. Their only loss as a halfback combination was last year's 30-13 defeat by the Wallabies in Brisbane.

Centres Wynand Olivier and Juan de Jongh have never started a test together, while the back three of fullback Gio Aplon and wings Lwazi Mvovo and Bjorn Basson have also never operated together.

From the moment De Villiers named his touring squad, the team was always going to have a vulnerable look to it.

On the plus side these players are competing for a few World Cup places and one victory on the road will do the chances of fringe players such as Olivier, De Jongh, Van der Merwe and Greyling no harm at all.

But the perils of choosing untried combinations was evident when the Wallabies lost 32-23 to Samoa in Sydney last week. Individually the Wallabies looked good on paper, but collectively they struggled to keep their shape on defence and attack.

South Africa: 15 Gio Aplon, 14 Bjorn Basson, 13 Juan de Jongh, 12 Wynand Oliver, 11 Lwazi Mvovo, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Ashley Johnson, 7 Danie Rossouw, 6 Deon Stegmann, 5 Johann Muller, 4 Flip van der Merwe, 3 Werner Kruger, 2 John Smit (captain), 1 Dean Greyling.

Replacements: 16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 CJ van der Linde, 18 Alistair Hargreaves, 19 Jean Deysel, 20 Charl McLeod, 21 Adrian Jacobs, 22 Patrick Lambie.