The Bath flanker will make his 53rd international appearance against Australia in Bloemfontein when he packs down alongside Dillyn Lerds as two of the four changes from the side annihilated in Albany two weeks ago.
Having drawn with the Wallabies in Perth, a home win is vital if the Boks are to stay on course for second place behind the world champions. Raymond Rhule will make his first start on the wing and Sharks hooker Chiliboy Ralepelle comes into the matchday 23 on the bench.
Scrumhalf Ross Cronje is over the illness that forced him to withdraw from the New Zealand game and he will partner his Lions team mate Elton Jantjies at half-back.
Head coach Allister Coetzee is delighted to have Louw back in his side and will be looking for him to take on a senior leadership role in the final two game of the Rugby Championship and then on the northern hemisphere.
That trip will include an international against Wales in the final game of the four-match Under Armour Series 2017 at the Principality Stadium on Saturday, 4 December.
“Francois has showed this week that he is in a great condition and he brings a lot of experience to the team. I believe his strength is playing towards the ball, and he is renowned for making good decisions at the defensive breakdown,” said Coetzee.
“It’s now the right time to give Dillyn a starting opportunity. He has played consistently well in the Currie Cup and deserves his chance.”
“It’s great to resume the continuity between Ross Cronje and Elton Jantjies as a half-back combination and our preparations have gone well, the players are excited and eager to improve on our previous performance.
“The Wallabies are a good side with many dangerous and classy players. They would have gained a lot of confidence from their previous outings.”
The Springbok back line can boast only 95 caps, with 33 belonging to dangerous centre Jam Serfontein, and four of the seven players facing the Wallabies are still in single-figures. It is a slightly different picture up front, where loose head prop Tendai Mtawarira, aka ‘The Beast’, will win his 95th cap this weekend.
Even so, Coetzee still has three of his pack members with less than 10 caps. They learned a hard lesson against the ruthless All Blacks in Round 4 and need to get back to winning ways in the final two fixtures.
The Aussies, first up for Wales in November, have given three rookies a first start in Bloemfontein with Izack Rodda, Jack Dempsey and Marika Koroibete all handed their full debuts. Rodda comes in ahead of lock Rob Simmons, Dempsey gets the nod ahead of Ned Hanigan in the back row and Koroibete, who made his debut against Argentina of the bench, is preferred to Henry Speight on the wing.
With an away trip to Argentina to come after Bloemfontein it is going to be a tough end to the campaign for Cheika’s men. But they know that if they can beat the Boks then they will be on course for a second place finish with the All Blacks finishing in South Africa after their game against the Pumas in Buenos Aires.
The Under Armour Series game against the All Blacks is already a sell-out and tickets for the other games against Australia, Georgia and South Africa are also selling fast.
Steve Hansen left five senior players, four of them from his pack, at home for the trip to Argentina. Even so, they have a very impressive line-up as they seek to extend their unbeaten run to five games in the competition.
Rugby Championship Round 5 – Saturday, 30 September
South Africa v Australia (16.05 BST) Toyota Stadium, Bloemfontein
Argentina v New Zealand (22.40 BST) Estadio Jose Amalfitani, Buenos Aires
Under Armour Series 2017
WALES v AUSTRALIA – Saturday, 11 November 2017 (17:15)
WALES v GEORGIA – Saturday, 18 November 2017 (14:30)
WALES v NEW ZEALAND – Saturday, 25 November 2017 (17:15) SOLD OUT
WALES v SOUTH AFRICA – Saturday, 2 December 2017 (14:30)
