South Africa will line up without Handre Pollard at fly-half on Saturday when they face a Scotland side high on confidence after beating Australia.
It will be just the second time in 12 Tests so far in 2021 that the Springboks will start a game without Pollard, one of the most prominent heroes from the 2019 Rugby World Cup -winning campaign.
The reigning world champions beat Wales 23-18 on Saturday to secure their first win in Cardiff since 2013, which came via controversial means after a pitch invader prevented a Welsh try-scoring opportunity.
Scotland beat a weakened Wallabies side 15-13 at Murrayfield on Sunday, though Australia were missing a couple of key men compared to the team that bested South Africa in back-to-back meetings in September.
Pollard, 27, will start on the bench at Murrayfield and is one of three changes made by head coach Jacques Nienaber, who has reinstated Willie le Roux at full-back following a head injury to Damian Willemse.
The swap at fly-half is a chance for Pollard to rest, having started all three Tests in the series win over the British and Irish Lions before playing all but one of South Africa's Rugby Championship games.
Elton Jantjies will step into the No. 10 jersey against the Scots, a chance to start that Nienaber said he fully deserved: “Elton has been training very well since the squad assembled before the Castle Lager Lions Series and he’s performed well every time he earned a run, so we thought it was the right time to hand him a start."
Franco Mostert will earn his 50th Springboks cap after replacing Lood de Jager at lock in the other change, with the Sale Sharks second row dropping back to the bench.
Jesse Kriel will keep his place on the right wing despite Sbu Nkosi finally joining the squad following some passport problems, and he'll also bring up a half-century of caps for South Africa.
Frans Steyn will also celebrate a momentous milestone if he comes off the bench, which would make him the first Springbok to represent the country over 15 calendar years.
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The 34-year-old kicking technician made his Test debut against Ireland as a winger on November 11, 2006, some 15 years and two days before Saturday's sojourn to Edinburgh.
His advanced years don't appear to be hampering the player just yet, either, after he came on as an early substitute against Wales, converting a crucial long-range penalty before he was named player of the match.
“Playing international rugby for 15 years is an extraordinary achievement and what makes this feat even more remarkable is that Frans continues to show his class despite being at the twilight of his career,” said Nienaber.
The head coach hailed Scotland as "a quality team with a number of experienced players and a few British & Irish Lions players," predicting a tough test to come.
“They are a physical side with solid set pieces, but they also have the skills to run the ball, so we’ll have to be accurate on attack and defence," he added.
“We laid a good foundation for the tour in Cardiff last week, and we know what areas we would like to improve on. We created opportunities to score points last week, but we didn’t convert some of them, and we also conceded several penalties, so we need to step up our discipline as well.
“The scrums will of course be a key battle with former Springbok scrum coach Pieter de Villiers now serving that role for Scotland, but that is an area of the game we pride ourselves on too, so we need to be physical and accurate up front.”
South Africa have won 22 of their previous 27 clashes against Scotland, which includes the last six in a row, although this will be the first time the two teams have met since November 2018.
More than a decade has passed since Scotland last got the better of the Boks, and head coach Gregor Townsend will hope Sunday's win over the Wallabies is a sign of things to come as the autumn slate continues.
South Africa team to face Wales
Willie le Roux; Jesse Kriel, Lukhanyo Am, Damian de Allende, Makazole Mapimpi; Elton Jantjies, Herschel Jantjies; Ox Nche, Bongi Mbonambi, Trevor Nyakane; Eben Etzebeth, Franco Mostert; Siya Kolisi (c), Kwagga Smith, Duane Vermeulen
Reps: Malcolm Marx, Steven Kitshoff, Vincent Koch, Lood de Jager, Jasper Wiese, Cobus Reinach, Handre Pollard, Frans Steyn
