Victor Matfield to break Springboks record against Wales

Victor Matfield will become South Africa‘s most-capped Test player on Saturday when he leads the Springboks against Wales in Nelspruit.
The veteran lock will earn his 112th cap in a side that shows two changes from the team which beat Wales by 38-16 in Durban last week.
Both changes are in the pack where Tendai Mtawarira returns at loosehead prop with Gurthrö Steenkamp reverting to the bench.
Flip van der Merwe will partner Matfield in the second row in the place of Bakkies Botha who will be joined by Wynand Olivier on the bench as the Montpellier centre takes over from the injured Johan Goosen.
“This is a fantastic accolade for Victor,” said Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer.
“He has been a terrific servant of the game in South Africa and has led his country with distinction since returning to the Green and Gold.
“When he returned to the game earlier this season, he set his goals on becoming a Springbok yet again and he’s worked extremely hard to get there. I don’t think anyone can doubt that he deserves his place in the team and he’s also been a great interim captain, with Jean de Villiers out injured.”
“I’ve always preferred to stick with a winning combination and the changes to the team were both part of our planning.
“The backline really performed well last weekend and we would like to give them another opportunity to play together, as there were a number of new combinations.
“The same applies upfront. Bakkies is fit for selection, but we decided to manage his workload this week and I know Flip, who has been outstanding in the last two seasons, will slot back in easily. The same goes for ‘Beast’, who upped the tempo with his work rate last weekend.”
“Wales have had another week together and will be keen to lift their game on Saturday, but at the same time we were not happy with certain aspects of our game and we’ve worked hard to rectify that,” said Meyer.
“This is their last match of the season, so we’re expecting them to come out firing. But we also want to make a step up and ensure we keep on improving as the season progresses.”
South Africa: Willie le Roux; Cornal Hendricks, JP Pietersen, Jan Serfontein, Bryan Habana; Morné Steyn, Fourie du Preez; Tendai Mtawarira, Bismarck du Plessis, Jannie du Plessis; Flip van der Merwe, Victor Matfield (Capt.); Francois Louw, Willem Alberts, Duane Vermeulen.
Replacements: Schalk Brits, Gurthrö Steenkamp, Coenie Oosthuizen, Lood de Jager, Schalk Burger, Ruan Pienaar, Wynand Olivie, Lwazi Mvovo.