New faces for South Africa A

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Wholesale changes have been made to the SA A side for Friday's final match against the England Saxons in George.

SA A lost the first match 32-24 in Bloemfontein last week.

Coach Johan Ackermann said the changes were mainly made to afford every member of the squad some game time.

In the backline, Sergeal Petersen, Lukhanyo Am, Francois Brummer and Piet van Zyl will start in place of Travis Ismaiel, Howard Mnisi, Garth April and Nic Groom respectively.

Meanwhile, up front, Arno Botha, Jean-Luc du Preez, RG Snyman, Jason Jenkins, Marcel van der Merwe and Malcolm Marx have been named in the starting lineup, replacing Nizaam Carr, Sikhumbuzo Notshe, Stephan Lewies, JD Schickerling, Vincent Koch and Scarra Ntubeni respectively.

'These guys have worked incredibly hard over the past 10 days or so and all of them deserve an opportunity to get a taste of what international rugby is all about,' Ackermann commented.

'Having said that, I believe we’ve put together a great side with some key combinations from their franchise teams for Friday’s match. There are some very good players in this squad and I’m excited for the challenge this weekend – as are they.'

South Africa A – 15 Leolin Zas, 14 Sergeal Petersen, 13 Francois Venter, 12 Lukhanyo Am, 11 Courtnall Skosan, 10 Francois Brummer, 9 Piet van Zyl, 8 Arno Botha, 7 Oupa Mohoje (c), 6 Jean-Luc du Preez, 5 RG Snyman, 4 Jason Jenkins, 3 Marcel van der Merwe, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Thomas du Toit.
Subs: 16 Edgar Marutlulle, 17 Coenie Oosthuizen, 18 Lizo Gqoboka, 19 JD Schickerling, 20 Nizaam Carr, 21 Ntando Kebe, 22 Howard Mnisi, 23 Travis Ismaiel.

Photo: Johan Pretorius/Gallo Images

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