Erasmus names strong squad to face Wallabies in Rugby Championship opener
'Edwill has been in good form this season and it will be good to see what he brings in this match.'
With Australia coming off a confidence-boosting 22-12 victory after a heartbreaking 29-26 defeat against the British & Irish Lions, Erasmus expected a challenging Test against them.
'Australia showed they are on the right trajectory in their past two matches against the British & Irish Lions and we have no doubt they will enter this match with confidence and determined to build on those performances,' he said.
'They are a physical and well-coached team and we'll not underestimate how much those performances, combined with their motivation to bounce back strongly against us after the past few results between the teams, and win their first match ever at Ellis Park, will inspire them.
'That said, we have also been working hard to keep building on our game and improve and we believe our two-week conditioning camp has placed us in the right frame of mind for the Castle Lager Rugby Championship.
'So hopefully we can transfer that hard work into our game to place ourselves in a good position to defend the title.' Springbok team to face Australia:
15. Aphelele Fassi, 14. Edwill van der Merwe, 13. Jesse Kriel, 12. André Esterhuizen, 11. Kurt-Lee Arendse, 10. Manie Libbok, 9. Grant Williams, 8. Siya Kolisi (capt) 7. Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6. Marco van Staden, 5. Lood de Jager, 4. Eben Etzebeth, 3. Wilco Louw, 2. Malcolm Marx, 1. Ox Nche
Replacements: 16. Bongi Mbonambi, 17. Jan-Hendrik Wessels, 18. Asenathi Ntlabakanye, 19. Franco Mostert, 20. Kwagga Smith, 21. Cobus Reinach, 22. Canan Moodie, 23. Damian Willemse
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