Buoyed by their historic win over the All Blacks last weekend, the South Africans are confident their rookie hookers can get the job done in the Tri-Nations Test against Australia in Perth on Saturday.

Springboks coach Peter De Villiers announced his squad for the match on Thursday, recalling Pierre Spies, Francois Steyn and Conrad Jantjes to his starting XV.

Spies replaces Joe van Niekerk, Steyn comes in for the injured Adrian Jacobs and Jantjes was recalled at the expense of 98-Test veteran Percy Montgomery, who didn't even make the reserves, which included five forwards.

The Wallabies have already identified the unsettled Springbok line-out as a possible weakness — with South African captain John Smit missing due to groin surgery and understudy Bismarck du Plessis suspended.

Schalk Brits, the starting hooker, will have the throw-in duties and his back-up will be Adriaan Strauss, who was named among the replacements after only joining the squad on Wednesday.

Brits will start a Test for the first time on Saturday, while Strauss is yet to play at Test level.

However, Bok captain Victor Matfield said the pair were up to the challenge.

"We're very happy," he said of the duo. "We've had a good week with Schalk and his throwing is looking very good at the moment.

"Adriaan had a session this (Thursday) morning and he's a great thrower, as we know from back home."

De Villiers said he always had Spies pencilled in for the Wallabies clash, while leaving out Montgomery was a tough decision.

The Australians also have absentees from their best line-out, with lock Dan Vickerman not considered as he continues his comeback from injury in club rugby.

Lock Nathan Sharpe was recalled by the Wallabies for Saturday's game, but Matfield said Vickerman would be missed.

"You will always miss a player of his class," he said.

"He has a lot of experience and is a great player at line-out time.

"I think they'll miss Dan, he's one of the top locks in the world."

Matfield said he would be interested to see how the Australians adapt to playing under the Experimental Law Variations (ELVs) at Test level for the first time.

"We don't know what to expect from Australia in the line-outs, we haven't seen them playing under the new rules," he said.

AFP