E-mail Article 
Print-Friendly Version 
Subscribe to RSS FeedWikus gets a Final break
Final break: Wikus van Heerden
Flank Wikus van Heerden has beaten off the challenge of veteran Bobby Skinstad to make the South African team to face England in the World Cup Final in Paris on Saturday.
Springbok head coach Jake White on Thursday announced his team to play defending champions England at Stade de France and the matchday 22 shows just one change.
Van Heerden comes onto the bench as loose forward cover in place of Skinstad.
For Van Heerden it is a dream come true. The 28-year-old Van Heerden was one of the stars when South Africa beat England 36-0 in their pool match at the same stadium over a month ago.
He started as South Africa's openside flank on that day, standing in for the suspended Schalk Burger.
Van Heerden was also the reserve loose forward for the quarter-final match against Fiji - when he came on as a second-half replacement for Danie Rossouw, with Burger moving to number eight.
Skinstad took Van Heerden's place among the replacements for the semi-final encounter with Argentina last week.
Fearless in a physical confrontation and outstanding as a fetcher in combination with Burger, Van Heerden could be worth his weight in gold if he takes the field again on Saturday.
It is expected that Burger will again move to number eight in place of Rossouw, to make way for Van Heerden on the side of the scrum in the latter stages of the match.
As expected, the Bok coach made no other changes to his unbeaten team.
White explained: "It was quite simple. There were no emotional decisions made.
"We felt that the way Argentina played, Bobby was suited to that game.
"It's only fair on Wikus as he played a massive role against England in the pool game. He played a massive role in the way we played.
"It's good to have two guys like Schalk and Wikus as part of our mix. We need two guys who can play that role."
South Africa: 15 Percy Montgomery, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Francois Steyn, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Butch James, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Danie Rossouw, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 CJ van der Linde, 2 John Smit (c), 1 Os du Randt.
Replacements: 16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Jannie du Plessis, 18 Johannes Muller, 19 Wikus van Heerden, 20 Ruan Pienaar, 21 André Pretorius, 22 Wynand Olivier.
Date: Saturday, October 20
Kick Off: 21:00 (19.00 GMT, 20.00 BST)
Venue: Stade de France, Paris
Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)
Touch judges: Joël Jutge (France), Paul Honiss (New Zealand)
Television match official: Stuart Dickinson (Australia)
Assessor: Michel Lamoulie (France)
