Matfield to captain Boks at World Cup send-off

Veteran lock Victor Matfield will captain South Africa in probably his last appearance for the Springboks when they take on Argentina in the World Cup third place play-off on Friday.

The 38-year-old Matfield, making his 127th Test appearance, replaces Fourie du Preez as skipper after the scrum-half suffered a tournament-ending injury in last weekend's 20-18 semi-final defeat by New Zealand at Twickenham.

Matfield has come in for Lood de Jager in the second row, with Ruan Pienaar taking over from du Preez in the only other change to the Springboks' starting line-up for the game at London's Olympic Stadium.

Du Preez suffered a swollen eye and broken tooth against the All Blacks, while de Jager, who started that match, has been struggling with a tendon injury in his foot.

Du Preez said after the semi-final that he probably would not appear again in the Springbok jersey.

De Jager is now on the bench, but du Preez has dropped out of the matchday 23 completely, with Rudy Paige now the reserve scrum-half following Pienaar's promotion.
South Africa (15-1)
Willie le Roux; JP Pietersen, Jesse Kriel, Damian de Allende, Bryan Habana; Handre Pollard, Ruan Pienaar; Duane Vermeulen, Schalk Burger, Francois Louw; Victor Matfield (capt), Eben Etzebeth; Frans Malherbe, Bismarck du Plessis, Tendai Mtawarira

Replacements: Adriaan Strauss, Trevor Nyakane, Jannie du Plessis, Lood de Jager, Willem Alberts, Rudy Paige, Pat Lambie, Jan Serfontein

Coach: Heyneke Meyer (RSA)

Source: AFP