Scrum-half Morne van den Berg and scrum-half Ruan Nortje will make their first start for the Springboks against Australia in Perth after coach Rassie Erasmus on Tuesday named a team featuring 10 changes from the side that convincingly won its opening Rugby Championship match in Brisbane.

The only players to retain their starting spots from the 33-7 win over the Wallabies at the weekend are defenders Cheslin Kolbe, Jesse Kriel and Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, and forwards Elrigh Louw and Pieter-Steph du Toit, who moves from lock to flanker.

With regular captain Siya Kolisi resting, lock Salmaan Moerat will captain the side for a second time at Optus Stadium on Saturday, with experienced Eben Etzebeth initially on the bench.

“We have made it clear from the start of this season that one of our main objectives is to increase squad depth with a view to the next Rugby World Cup here in Australia,” Erasmus said.

“There is no better way to test some of the younger players and assess where we stand as a group in this game against a top country, especially away from home.”

Lions scrum-half Van den Berg, 26, made his debut as a substitute in the 64-21 win over Portugal last month, while Nortje, also 26, has recovered from the knee injury that ruled him out of action for the Brisbane game and returns for the first time since making his Test debut as a substitute against Wales in Bloemfontein in 2022.

The player rotation also allows Erasmus to rest some key players ahead of the next four Rugby Championship test matches against New Zealand and Argentina.

“We have a big squad and it’s important to balance the workload of some players while also bringing some young players into the team. This squad allows us to do both,” said Erasmus, who is expecting a massive backlash from the Wallabies.

“They will be desperate to come back strong after last week’s loss and I have no doubt that Joe Schmidt (the Australian head coach) will field a team that is motivated and will give it their all to turn things around and get their campaign back on track.

“They are a proud nation and will be highly motivated to continue their impressive record of home wins against us in Australia, so we are fully aware of the challenge.”

“This is an important game for us because if we can build on last week, we have a good chance of being in the fight for the title we last won in 2019.”

South African team (15-1):

Aphelele Fassi; Cheslin Kolbe, Jesse Kriel, Lukhanyo Am, Makazole Mapimpi; Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, Morne van den Berg; Elrigh Louw, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Marco van Staden, Ruan Nortje, Salmaan Moerat (captain), Thomas du Toit, Johan Grobbelaar, Jan-Hendrik Wessels

Replacements: Malcolm Marx, Ox Nche, Vincent Koch, Eben Etzebeth, Kwagga Smith, Grant Williams, Manie Libbok, Handre Pollard

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