Ongoing injury concerns and the possibility of appealing against lock Bakkies Botha's two-week ban have forced Springbok coach Peter de Villiers to delay the announcement of his team for the third and final Test against the British and Irish Lions, in Johannesburg on Saturday.

De Villiers was scheduled to name the side on Tuesday, as is the Bok custom, but the public will now have to wait another couple of days to find out if he is going to make any changes to the side that recorded a series-clinching 28-25 win over the Lions in Pretoria last Saturday.

Botha was banned for two weeks for "dangerously charging into a ruck without binding on a player" - which saw Lions prop Adam Jones suffer a shoulder injury.

However, the Bok camp, aggrieved at what they consider to be inconsistencies in the citing and judicial process, will most likely appeal the ban.

Then there is the injury crisis, which has already seen Sharks captain Johann Muller being called up to replace lanky Western Province second row forward Andries Bekker, who tore cartilage in his knee during last Saturday's win.

Danie Rossouw (concussion) is also a doubtful starter.

Other injury concerns include centre Jean de Villiers and scrumhalf Fourie du Preez, who both saw shoulder specialist Thys de Beer in Pretoria on Monday.

De Villiers will reveal his side for the final Test on Thursday.

However, it is expected to show some changes.

The first change will be on the flank, where it is likely that Heinrich Brüssow will start in place of the suspended flank Schalk Burger.

The other likely change, should Botha's appeal fail, will be at lock. Rossouw seems unlikely to be cleared, which means Muller could partner Victor Matfield in the second row.

The rest of the pack should remain unchanged.

The backline could also show a few changes.

The first could be at flyhalf, where second-Test hero Morné Steyn could get his first start at the expense of Ruan Pienaar.

De Villiers is also considering starting with Steyn's Bulls team-mate Wynand Olivier at inside centre and World Cup winner Jaque Fourie at outside centre.

It would also be interesting to see how many of the squad members that have not featured against the Lions in the first two Tests - the likes of Ryan Kankowski, Jongi Nokwe, Earl Rose and Odwa Ndungane would make it into the match-day 22.

365

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