Papier wait over as scrum-half starts for Springboks

Scrum-half Embrose Papier has been selected to make his first international start when South Africa face Scotland on Saturday.

The Springboks are without Sale Sharks’ Faf de Klerk due to club commitments so have turned to Papier, whose five appearances to date have all come off the bench.

Eben Etzebeth will miss out once more with the foot injury that he suffered against England, which has resulted in RG Snyman being selected at lock.

Coach Rassie Erasmus has shuffled his pack, with Duane Vermeulen moving to number eight and Pieter-Steph du Toit switching to blindside flanker.

South Africa have also confirmed that the injured Warren Whiteley will not feature against Wales next week either due to a calf strain, cutting short his involvement on the tour.

RG Snyman and Embrose Papier are the new faces in the #Springboks starting team – they take over from @PieterSteph and @fafdeklerk for the Test against @Scotlandteam in Edinburgh on Saturday. #boksontour #loverugby pic.twitter.com/6I0OtABigx

— South African Rugby (@Springboks) November 15, 2018

“Unfortunately Eben is still not fully fit and this gives RG Snyman another great opportunity to start against one of the top rugby sides,” Erasmus said.

“Moving Duane and Pieter-Steph around in the pack isn’t disrupting at all as both of them are very experienced and have played for us in these positions earlier in the season.”

South Africa: Willie le Roux, Sbu Nkosi, Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende, Aphiwe Dyantyi, Handre Pollard, Embrose Papier; Steven Kitshoff, Malcolm Marx, Frans Malherbe, RG Snyman, Franco Mostert, Siya Kolisi, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Duane Vermeulen.

Replacements: Bongi Mbonambi, Thomas du Toit, Vincent Koch, Lood de Jager, Francois Louw, Ivan van Zyl, Elton Jantjies, Cheslin Kolbe.

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