Esterhuizen to captain Springboks against Australia

Andre Esterhuizen will captain South Africa for the first time when the Springboks face Australia in a one-off Test in Perth, with Rassie Erasmus making 13 changes to the side that beat New Zealand in the fourth Rugby's Greatest Rivalry match in Baltimore.

Esterhuizen, who can play centre or in the back row, has previously captained the Sharks. Handre Pollard returns at No 10 after missing the All Blacks series through injury, and Eben Etzebeth and Franco Mostert form the second row. Jasper Wiese, named among six forwards on the bench, is set to win his 50th cap. Pieter-Steph du Toit and Damian de Allende have been released from camp, rested ahead of South Africa's Nations Championship fixtures in November.

«Each player in this squad has been working hard at training over the last few months and have had a chance to play in either the first leg of the Nations Championship or RGR, or both, while guys like Handre and Canan have recovered from injury, and they are all quality players, so we are pleased to give them a run and we are excited to see this team in action, Australia poses a completely different threat to New Zealand in the way they play, so we believe these combinations would be best suited for the challenge that we will face against them».

On the captaincy, Erasmus said Esterhuizen "has brought so much to our squad off and on the field, both at centre and in the loose trio, and he thoroughly deserves this opportunity." He added that the choice would "help build our leadership core even more within the team with several players having captained the side over the last few seasons."