Springboks recall big guns

South Africa have made five changes from the side that beat Italy for Saturday’s Test at Croke Park, with most of the changes coming in the pack, while Seán O'Brien has been drafted on to the Ireland bench in place of Denis Leamy.

In the frontrow, Tendai Mtawarira returns in place of Wian du Preez, while Ulster’s BJ Botha starts at tighthead with captain John Smit moving to hooker in the place of Adriaan Strauss.

Victor Matfield returns to the secondrow replacing Andries Bekker, with Schalk Burger back at openside flanker and Danie Rossouw moving from the side of the scrum to number eight.

There is one change to the backline with Wynand Olivier starting at inside centre in place of the injured Adi Jacobs.

There are four more changes on the bench – hooker Bismarck du Plessis and Leinster prop CJ van der Linde return from injury, Munster centre Jean de Villiers is recalled and flank Dewald Potgieter is included in the Test 22 for the first time.

Captain Smit expects an exciting tussle at headquarters, between two teams who have enjoyed excellent seasons in their respective hemispheres.

“The Irish team have been good for a number of years now,” he said this afternoon. “They’ve got good experience and are certainly well coached. It will be a very tough test and to be fair I think an epic one.

"They’re Six Nations champions so they’ve proven what their worth and we’ve had a pretty good year as well, so I think it’s an exciting day at the office for both teams to be able to measure up against each other.”

Leamy has failed to recover from the ankle injury he picked up against Fiji last weekend.

The Munster backrow was undergoing rehabilitation throughout the week and while he has progressed well, the injury has not recovered fully to allow him to take his position among the replacements for what is expected to be a high-octane contest.

Leinster’s O’Brien came on for Leamy in the 44th minute at the RDS and, like the other debutants on the day, emerged with a lot of credit.

Ireland (v South Africa):R Kearney; T Bowe, B O'Driscoll (capt), P Wallace, K Earls; J Sexton, T O'Leary; C Healy, J Flannery, J Hayes, D O'Callaghan, P O'Connell, S Ferris, D Wallace, J Heaslip. Replacements: S Cronin, T Buckley, L Cullen, S O'Brien, P Stringer, R O'Gara, G D'Arcy.

South Africa:Z Kirchner; JP Pietersen, J Fourie, W Olivier, B Habana; M Steyn, F du Preez; T Mtawarira, J Smit (capt), BJ Botha, B Botha, V Matfield; H Brussow, S Burger, D Rossouw. Replacements:B du Plessis, CJ van der Linde, A Bekker, J Deysel, D Potgieter, R Pienaar, J de Villiers.

Argentina Jaguares (v Ireland A):B Agulla; F Merello, M Viazzo, M Avramovic, T De Vedia; S González Iglesias, M Landajo; J Gómez, A Tejeda, G De Robertis; T Roan, M Galarza; A Guzmán, L Senatore, B Macome. Replacements: M Cortese, N Chaparro Tetaz, R Bruno, I Pasman, F Albarracin, N Sanchez, JP Estelles