Ulster's Ruan Pienaar and Leinster's Zane Kirchner have been named in South Africa's starting team for their World Cup opener with Japan at the weekend.
Kirchner starts at full back on Saturday in Brighton as Pienaar earns his 85th cap by starting at scrum half. It is the most experienced starting team named by South Africa in test history with 880 caps earned between the 15 players. Former Munster player Jean de Villiers captains the team.
It is the first ever game between the two sides and Springboks coach Heyneke Meyer has spoke about the need to start the tournament with a win. Speaking to the South Africa Rugby website, he said: "we play against the big teams from the Southern and Northern Hemisphere quite often and with them it’s mostly a case of you know what to expect. But Japan will pose a different threat. They have a very astute coach in Eddie Jones and our players who play in Japan have warned us to expect a very high tempo game and good, low tackling to stop momentum."
Kirchner and Pienaar are two of only four foreign based players in the team. Toulon's Bryan Habana starts on the wing and is joined by Bath's Francois Louw in the back row.
Backs: Kirchner, Mvovo, Kriel, De Villiers (c), Habana, Lambie, Pienaar.
— South African Rugby (@Springboks) September 16, 2015
Forwards: Burger, Alberts, Louw, Matfield, De Jager, Jannie, Bismarck, Beast
— South African Rugby (@Springboks) September 16, 2015
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