Matfield to lead Springboks against Samoa

Lineout specialist Victor Matfield will make his comeback from a hamstring injury to lead a strong South African line-up in their final Pool D match in Auckland against Samoa on Friday.

Springboks' coach Peter de Villiers on Tuesday named seven changes to the starting XV that defeated Namibia 87-0 at North Harbour Stadium last week.

Matfield, 34, assumes the captaincy role after hooker John Smit was named on the bench, allowing Bismark du Plessis to start his first match of RWC 2011.

Wing JP Pietersen and scrum half Fourie du Preez return to the starting line-up while the versatile Francois Hougaard joins centre Jean de Villiers, who has recovered from a rib injury, on the bench.

Jannie du Plessis and Tendai Mtawarira come in for CJ van der Linde and Gurthrö Steenkamp while Heinrich Brüssow starts at blindside flanker, with Willem Alberts dropping to the bench.

Matfield strained his hamstring in South Africa's opening win over Wales and missed the subsequent victories over Fiji and Namibia.

He slots back in for Bakkies Botha, who hurt his hamstring against Namibia after battling an achilles heel injury.

Inspirational Matfield

"Having Victor back in the lineout, that can be a great contest now," de Villiers said at the team announcement press conference. "He understands the systems and he inspires people around him."

The defending champions need at least one point to qualify for the quarter-finals, while Samoa must upset the Springboks with a bonus point to advance.

South Africa defeated Samoa 57-7 in a RWC 2007 pool match but Matfield said the Pacific Islanders were better coached and more prepared for the New Zealand tournament.

"I think the big difference is that they got together this year for a longer period so they've had more time to work together," said Matfield.

"They're actually a very well-coached side. If you play any of the island teams I think the set pieces are very important. If you give them too much ball they're very dangerous so that's one thing we're focusing on."

Scrum dominance

De Villiers pointed out that Samoa "annihilated" Fiji in the scrums in Auckland on Sunday "so that's a bit of bother for us".

He also noted the Samoans were playing more structured rugby instead of their trademark free-flowing style.

"It will make them more difficult to play because of the structure," he said.

"They'll keep the ball for longer periods. They will be very strong at the breakdown like they normally are. Because they went into structure they forfeit something, but they gain a lot of other things.

"What they gained is exactly what all the other teams at the international level do. It doesn't make it easier, but you can actually sit down and analyse them a bit."

Friday's match at North Harbour Stadium kicks off at 20:30.