Victor Mattfield will equal John Smit’s record on Saturday after being named in the South Africa team to face Wales in Durban.
The veteran lock is set for his 111th Test caps while prop Gurthro Steenkamp will earn his 50th.
Heyneke Meyer has made three changes from the team that beat the World XV 47-13 with Jan Serfontein coming in at centre in place of Frans Steyn, who withdrew from the Springbok squad on Tuesday.
Scrum-half Fourie du Preez gets the nod at scrum-half over Ulster‘s Ruan Pienaar while Tendai Mtawarira makes way for Steenkamp at loosehead.
“Wales have an experienced coaching team and they were the Six Nations champions in 2012 and 2013, as well as the back-bone of the British and Irish Lions team which beat Australia last year, so this will be a massive challenge in our first Test of the season,” Meyer said.
“Although we got our season off to a good start against the World XV last weekend, there were a few areas we were not satisfied with and which we worked hard on this week.
“We will have to be at our best on Saturday and we want to make our supporters proud.”
South Africa: Willie le Roux; Cornal Hendricks, JP Pietersen, Jan Serfontein, Bryan Habana; Morné Steyn, Fourie du Preez; Gurthrö Steenkamp, Bismarck du Plessis, Jannie du Plessis; Bakkies Botha, Victor Matfield (Capt.); Francois Louw, Willem Alberts, Duane Vermeulen.
Replacements: Schalk Brits, Tendai Mtawarira, Coenie Oosthuizen, Lood de Jager, Schalk Burger, Ruan Pienaar, Johan Goosen Lwazi Mvovo.