Coetzee sticks to his guns

The Springboks have already won their series against France, but coach Allister Coetzee wants to keep his foot firmly on their throats in the dead rubber at Ellis Park on Saturday.

Coetzee will not make wholesale changes to the squad and says he does not want to tamper with the consistency the squad achieved over the past two weeks.

Jean-Luc du Preez is expected to start for the first time in the series at No 7 in the only change. He replaces Oupa Mahoje, who has been ruled out after being stretchered off the field in the first half with concussion last week.

"We have the normal bruises after a tough weekend," said Springboks' doctor Konrad von Hagen. "The only significant injury [casualty] is Oupa Mahoje with a concussion and he is out for this weekend.

"On the good news front, Jesse Kriel has done well in his recovery and, if all goes well in the final phase of recovery, he will be available for selection on Saturday."

Du Preez earned rave reviews for his impressive performance after coming on for Mahoje in Durban and an opportunity has presented itself for him to start and claim a place in the team. "I would like to keep the team the same as far as possible for the sake of continuity but there is also an opportunity to build capacity. "With the performance of Jean-Luc du Preez, there is an opportunity for him to make sure that we build that capacity in the team.

"We don't want to create complacency in this team by making changes for the sake of making changes. "We have combinations going; we want to keep continuity as far as possible," said Coetzee in his first press conference since the Boks arrived in Johannesburg yesterday. "There may be one or two other changes but definitely not wholesale changes because the French are a very good side and we respect them massively."

The other notable change in the squad may see Kriel, who has made progress in his recovery from concussion, start on the bench as Coetzee is expected to stick with Lionel Mapoe at No 13.

"He may find himself in the starting 23 this weekend.

"I have no doubt that he has recovered tremendously and I can't wait to see him get another opportunity in the Spingboks again."