Tokyo (AFP)

South Africa will have a whole new team to face Friday Japan in preparation match at the Rugby World Cup (September 20-November 2), including the return of Siya Kolisi.

This match is taken very seriously by the Springbox, two-time world champions (1995, 2007) who, to everyone's surprise, were defeated by the Brave Blossoms at the 2015 World Cup (34-32).

The return of the third wing, the first black captain in the history of his country, fully recovered from his knee injury, will be the main novelty of the group announced Tuesday by the South African coach Rassie Erasmus, which will resume the same composition as the one that led to the Rugby Championship victory.

The Springbox will also be able to count on their second line Pieter-Steph du Toit, who will wear for the 50th time the green and gold jersey of the national team. He will be supported by the future Toulouse Eben Etzebeth, in the middle of a controversy after being accused of pointing a gun at a homeless in late August, which he refutes.

"I hope that this selection will send the message that we have the greatest respect for Japan.Maybe we have been complacent in the past vis-à-vis this team, but this is no longer the case ", said South African coach Rassie Erasmus.

"This match will be a test as ambitious for us as everyone we have known this season."

Friday's match will be the first clash between the two teams since the 2015 World Cup. Nine of the 23 players selected by Erasmus were part of the Springbox team defeated in 2015 by the Japanese, which is an additional motivation.

"This kind of result can happen again if we do not learn from the past," said the South African coach.

South Africa is one of the favorites of the World Cup after winning the Rugby Championship in August. It will begin the competition on September 21 with a shock against New Zealand, double title defender. She will then face Namibia, Italy and Canada.

The South African starting XV:

Roux - Kolbe, Am, Allende, Mapimpi - (o) Pollard, (m) Klerk - Roof, Duane Vermeulen (Cape), Kolisi - Mostert, Etzebeth - Malherbe, Marx, Kitshoff

Alternates: Bongi Mbonambi, Tendai Mtawarira, Trevor Nyakane, RG Snyman, Francois Louw, Jantjies Herschel, Francois Steyn, Jesse Kriel

© 2019 AFP