The Springbok centre pairing of Jesse Kriel and Damian de Allende will extend their record of playing the most Tests together in midfield to 39 against the All Blacks on Saturday, 6 September.
The duo were selected to start in the 12 and 13 jerseys by coach Rassie Erasmus on Thursday.
In addition, Kriel will skipper the side.
It’s a record that’s unlikely to be broken any time soon.
The only other combination to have played at least 10 Tests together where both players are still active, is the pairing of Damian de Allende and Lukhanyo Am with 28.
Kick-off at Eden Park in Auckland is at 09:05 (SA time).
| Centre | Centre | Tests |
| Damian de Allende | Jesse Kriel | 38 |
| Jean de Villiers | Jaque Fourie | 29 |
| Damian de Allende | Lukhanyo Am | 28 |
| De Wet Barry | Marius Joubert | 18 |
| Hennie le Roux | Japie Mulder | 14 |
| Adrian Jacobs | Jean de Villiers | 14 |
| Ryk van Schoor | Tjol Lategan | 10 |
| John Gainsford | Ian Kirkpatrick | 10 |
| Jean de Villiers | Francois Steyn | 10 |
| Jaque Fourie | Francois Steyn | 10 |
TEAMS
New Zealand
15 Will Jordan, 14 Emoni Narawa, 13 Billy Proctor, 12 Jordie Barrett, 11 Rieko Ioane, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Finlay Christie, 8 Wallace Sititi, 7 Ardie Savea, 6 Simon Parker, 5 Tupou Vaa’i, 4 Scott Barrett (captain), 3 Fletcher Newell, 2 Codie Taylor, 1 Ethan de Groot
Replacements: 16 Samisoni Taukei’aho, 17 Tamaiti Williams, 18 Tyrel Lomax, 19 Fabian Holland, 20 Du’Plessis Kirifi, 21 Kyle Preston, 22 Quinn Tupaea, 23 Damian McKenzie
South Africa
15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cheslin Kolbe, 13 Jesse Kriel (captain), 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Canan Moodie, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Grant Williams, 8 Siya Kolisi, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Marco van Staden, 5 Ruan Nortje, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Thomas du Toit, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Ox Nche
Replacements: 16 Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 17 Boan Venter, 18 Wilco Louw, 19 Lood de Jager, 20 Kwagga Smith, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu, 23 Ethan Hooker
Which midfield pairing is South Africa’s greatest ever?
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