South Africa captain Bobby Skinstad has warned his players against over-confidence against a France team who lost a fifth first-choice player yesterday when outhalf Gerald Merceron was ruled out through injury.

Merceron will be replaced by uncapped 22-year-old Frangois Gelez, who will also take up his goal-kicking responsibilities.

From Gelez to teenage full back Clement Poitrenaud, France will field a back-line including six uncapped players with a meagre total of eight caps compared with 119 for their South African opponents.

"This is an unknown quantity but the situation was even more so when we met the French in Johannesburg and Durban in June, we didn't know a lot of the players," Skinstad told a news conference.

"We were led to a sense of security about playing a French team that hadn't really played test rugby. But they proved their worth and gave us a whacking in Johannesburg.

"So, certainly, the number of caps has not been in discussion this week and we are not going to make the same mistake twice."

Merceron's exit from the team with a thigh muscle injury picked up during training follows the withdrawals this week of first-choice centres Stephane Glas and Xavier Garbajosa and locks Fabien Pelous and Olivier Brouzet.

The 28-year-old outhalf was France's most impressive performer during the French tour in South Africa in June.

He scored 27 points in the shock French 32-23 win in Johannesburg and all 15 points in their 20-15 loss a week later. "It's a shame that we are hit by an injury at such a late stage particularly as Gerald was set to make his comeback after his shoulder injury," French manager Jo Maso said.

By contrast to the French worries, Skinstad confirmed the Springboks team were "100 per cent fit".

Scrumhalf Joost van der Westhuizen will play, despite taking a nasty blow to the calf at Wednesday's training session, he said.

Van der Westhuizen and lock Mark Andrews will both extend their Springbok record appearances to 76 today.