Inspirational Lions captain Warren Whiteley will face the biggest Test of his young career when he lines up against the All Blacks in a Rugby Championship match at Ellis Park on Saturday.
The big-tackling No8, who headed the stats in this department in Super Rugby, is set to take over at the back of the Bok scrum this weekend, with new skipper Schalk Burger shifting to flank, where he’ll replace the injured Marcell Coetzee.
The only other change to the Bok team that lost to Australia in Brisbane last weekend will be in the second row where Lood de Jager will come in for Victor Matfield.
Coach Heyneke Meyer has opted to push his strongest side onto the field in what will be the Boks’ last big challenge before they head to England and the World Cup in September. After this weekend’s match the Boks face off against Argentina, both home and away.
Whiteley filled the No8 spot in training yesterday and should he be named in the starting team today. Saturday will be just his third Test, having played off the bench in last year’s Championship, against Australia and New Zealand. He missed out last week in Brisbane.
It’ll by far be his biggest Test to date. Whiteley is in a battle to make the 31-man cut for the World Cup with Saturday’s 80 minutes potentially his big trial-run. Up against arguably the best No8 in the world in Kieran Reid, Whiteley will have to pull out all the stops if he’s to be the man who comes out on top.
It’s a tall order against the best team in the world, but Whiteley knows the Ellis Park turf better than anyone else in the Bok team and he’ll be able to draw on his inspirational performances for the Lions earlier this year.
The only other changes to the side that went down in Brisbane are likely to come on the bench. It appears Meyer will throw Trevor Nyakane and Vincent Koch into the mix this weekend, while the second row replacement spot is almost surely to be filled by Flip van der Merwe.
In a somewhat surprising move it looks as if Heinrich Brüssow could be back in the Test arena after several years in the wilderness, while Faf de Klerk, also of the Lions, could be in line to earn a spot on the bench. Lionel Mapoe, too, could find himself in the mix today. - The Star