Mzwandile Stick has pushed back firmly against the notion that Saturday's Springbok side to face Scotland at Loftus Versfeld represents a second-string selection, despite the starting XV carrying 246 fewer caps than the team that dismantled England 54-21 at Ellis Park last weekend.
The combined caps in the starting XV drop from 691 to 445, with the bench falling from 170 to 69 — and that is without factoring in the absence of Siya Kolisi and Eben Etzebeth from last week's squad. Scotland's match-day 23 arrives at Loftus with 761 caps.
"Gone are the days where people will always say 'OK this team is the B team'. We don't have such," Stick said at Friday's captain's press conference in Johannesburg. He pointed specifically to tighthead Wilco Louw and hooker Boan Venter — the latter having played club rugby in Scotland — as examples of calculated selections rather than fillers. "There's a bit of calculation that we've done there with those selections."
Stick also warned against underestimating Scotland, rating them a tougher assignment than England despite the lopsided scoreline a week ago. Scotland arrive having beaten Argentina away from home and finished above England in the Six Nations. "Even the games that we've played against them before, the game probably in the first 60 minutes, it's always tight," he said. "If you look at the full-time score, it looks like it was just another easy game for us. No, we had to make sure that we perform well against them."
He identified Finn Russell, Sione Tuipulotu and South Africa-raised wing Kyle Steyn as Scotland's key threats, and noted his own familiarity with coach Gregor Townsend from their time together at the Sharks. "He's someone that enjoys beautiful rugby — they like to go to the dance floor in the sense of moving the ball to the wider spaces."
On his own group, Stick expressed confidence rooted in the conditioning work done earlier in June. "It's a belief that we've got in these players. Almost all these players, they've performed for their franchise and they deserve to be rewarded."
South Africa have won nine consecutive Tests against Scotland since their last defeat to them at Murrayfield in 2010, and have a perfect seven from seven record against them on home soil. Saturday's match at Loftus is the first time the two sides have met at that venue.