Former Saracens prop Vincent Koch will win his 50th cap in what will be the first international played by the back-to-back world champions since they beat New Zealand to once again lift the Webb Ellis Cup in France last October.
Wing Edwill van der Merwe and outside half Jordan Hendrikse are handed their first caps, while lock Ben-Jason Dixon and utility back Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu are two further uncapped players on the bench.
Rassie Erasmus welcomes back experienced hooker Malcolm Marx, who last played for South Africa in their opening World Cup encounter against Scotland before suffering a knee injury at training which ruled him out of further tournament action.
“This is an exciting playing squad and travelling group, and we are looking forward to seeing how the uncapped players step up at top international level and how we execute what we’ve been working on at training,” said South Africa’s head coach Rassie Erasmus.
“The likes of Edwill, Jordan, Ben-Jason, and Sacha have really impressed us at training, and we believe they have what it takes to make their presence felt against a quality team such as Wales.”
South Africa
15. Aphelele Fassi
14. Edwill van der Merwe
13. Jesse Kriel
12. Andre Esterhuizen
11. Makazole Mapimpi
10. Jordan Hendrikse
9. Faf de Klerk1. Ox Nche
2. Malcolm Marx
3. Vincent Koch
4. Eben Etzebeth
5. Franco Mostert
6. Kwagga Smith
7. Pieter-Steph du Toit (captain)
8. Evan RoosReplacements
16. Bongi Mbonambi
17. Ntuthuko Mchunu
18. Frans Malherbe
19. Salmaan Moerat
20. Ben-Jason Dixon
21. Grant Williams
22. Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu
23. Damian de Allende
