JOHANNESBURG (AFP) - Mercurial centre Ashwin Willemse was the surprise inclusion in Springbok coach Jake White's squad announced to play Wales at the Millennium Stadium next week.
Willemse, who was South Africa's Player of the Year in 2003, has not played any rugby since injuring his knee in a Springbok warm-up match ahead of Ireland's tour of the country in June last year.
But White defended Willemse's inclusion for the November 6 Test in Cardiff.
"He is one of the best players in the team," White said.
"He oozes confidence and I know what he adds. I have decided to bring him back in from the start of matches while Jean de Villiers is always there to come up from the bench," White said in a statement.
Skipper John Smit, who has shrugged off an ankle injury scare earlier this week, will lead a side almost unchanged from the one that saw them win the Tri-Nations tournament with Australia and New Zealand earlier this year.
The only player not considered from the Tri-Nations is AJ Venter, nursing a hamstring injury and will be replaced by Juan Smith.
Venter remained part of the touring squad however.
There are two new potential new caps among the reserves -- flanker Tim Dlulane and scrumhalf Michael Claassens.
White said Dlulane, who plays for local side the Pumas, would be deployed in the open-side role of hard-hitter Schalk Burger.
"He is strong on his feet, like Schalk, and also possesses the ability to tackle strongly around the fringes," the coach said.
"I don't think that anyone disagrees that if we keep playing Schalk Saturday after Saturday he won't be around for very long and Tim's role will be to pick up the load."
Both White and Smit said it was important to kick off the tour with a win and maintain the momentum that the Boks have built up.
The skipper added that the team was looking forward to the exhaustive tour with enthusiasm.
"If there's any fatigue, I've seen no sign of it."
"We had a scrummaging session and the way the guys who played in in the Currie Cup final, Os (du Randt), Victor (Matfield) and the others hit the machine you could have sworn they were starting out the season," said the skipper, who has been put on crutches to nurse his damaged ankle.
10/29/2004 - 13:00 GMT - AFP