RUGBY TRI-NATIONS:SOUTH AFRICA coach Peter de Villiers has backed Jaque Fourie to fill the void created by the loss of centre Adi Jacobs for the Springboks' Tri-Nations opener against New Zealand on Saturday.

De Villiers yesterday announced his starting XV for the clash in Bloemfontein with the Sharks midfielder the most notable absentee due to a groin injury, alongside flanker Schalk Burger, currently serving a 12-week ban for eye gouging during the second Test against the British and Irish Lions last month.

There are six changes to the team that was beaten 28-9 by the Lions in the final Test on July 5th with Odwa Ndungane, Jongi Nokwe, Johann Muller, Wynand Olivier, Morne Steyn and Ryan Kankowski no longer in the starting line-up. The latter three have dropped to the bench, while Munster’s Jean de Villiers, JP Pietersen, Bryan Habana, Ruan Pienaar, Pierre Spies and Bakkies Botha, who returns from a two-week suspension, all come in.

But the biggest disappointment for the coach was the unavailability of Jacobs, a player that has started 13 out of 16 Tests under his leadership. De Villiers said: “It was a big setback to lose Adi, as he has been in our plans for a long time. Adi is a part of our plans and the way we want to play. When we looked at all our centres we looked at all the guys who are similar to each other because we didn’t want to change too much.

“But with Jaque coming in, the plans won’t change that much. They are very similar players and we will look to play a similar style of rugby with Jaque now at number 13. Jean (de Villiers) and Jaque worked well together as a team two years ago. I am excited that they are reunited and look forward to seeing what they can do.”

Fourie’s place on the bench has been taken by Bulls counterpart Olivier, called up as cover for Jacobs, while Jannie du Plessis, the Sharks prop who was not part of the last series, is also amongst the replacements, with Andries Bekker the unlucky player to miss out from the initial 23-man squad.

Another debatable decision by De Villiers was the axing of Morne Steyn – the outhalf who kicked the winning penalty against the Lions – from the starting team and the inclusion of Ruan Pienaar in his place. He continued: “It is always going to be a difficult decision to pick a team when you have players of the calibre we have. It was a difficult decision to choose between Ruan and Morne . . . In rugby, you can’t look too far ahead, so I will say that if injury hits, we will consider starting Steyn at outhalf.”

Asked whether he was concerned about his defence, which seemed to be exploited despite the series win against the Lions, De Villiers added: “There will be holes sometimes in rugby because you’re playing against the best in the world. I don’t think we were too bad in our defence, it’s just the Lions studied us and they exploited some weaknesses in our defence.”

New Zealand’s injury concerns have eased after skipper Richie McCaw, centre Conrad Smith, lock Isaac Ross and hooker Keven Mealamu all came through the team’s light training session in Centurion on Monday. McCaw and Smith arrived in South Africa with dead legs, Ross a knee strain and Mealamu a sore calf following the bruising 22-16 win against the Australians at Eden Park last weekend.

SOUTH AFRICA v NEW ZEALAND

Bloemfontein, Saturday, 4pm

ON TV: Sky Sports Xtra, 3.30pm

15 Frans Steyn

14 JP Pietersen

13 Jaque Fourie

12 Jean de Villiers

11 Bryan Habana

10 Ruan Pienaar

9 Fourie du Preez

1 Tendai Mtawarira

2 Bismarck du Plessis

3 John Smit (c)

4 Bakkies Botha

5 Victor Matfield

6 Heinrich Brussow

7 Juan Smith

8 Pierre Spies

Replacements:16 Chiliboy Ralepelle, 17 Jannie du Plessis, 18 Danie Rossouw, 19 Ryan Kankowski, 20 Ricky Januarie, 21 Morne Steyn, 22 Wynand Olivier.