Rookie Springbok fullback Zane Kirchner says he is ready for a barrage of aerial bombs from the British and Irish Lions, when they meet South Africa in the third and final Test in Johannesburg on Saturday.

Kirchner, one of 10 changes to the Bok team that will take to the field on Saturday, is the only player in the starting XV that will be making his debut.

Flyhalf Morné Steyn and hooker Chiliboy Ralepelle will both start in their first Tests, but Steyn (the two previous Test against the Lions) and Ralepelle (three caps) have played off the bench for the Boks before.

Uncapped Sharks lock Steven Sykes could make his debut off the bench, if he gets playing time.

Kirchner revealed on Thursday that he received the call to join the Springbok squad while at practice with the Bulls on Monday, joining them that afternoon - resulting in the 25-year-old training with both the Bulls and Boks.

"But, I'm here now, excited and almost overwhelmed," Kirchner said at a media session at the Boks' hotel, adding: "I have to make the best of this opportunity."

Kirchner knows that as a rookie he can expect a barrage of high bombs, but feels the aerial assaults he faced in the Super 14 - for the victorious Bulls - will have gone some way towards preparing him.

"I will take whatever comes my way, you have to be prepared for anything," the fullback said.

He said that while the Super 14 is "almost like Test rugby", he knows that he will have to lift his game substantially on Saturday.

"You just have to make sure you make fewer mistakes," he said, adding that while he has played some of the best rugby of his career in the Super 14 this year, he believe his best is still to come.

"I will have to take it a few notches up and do better than I have," he said, when asked of his expectations for Saturday.

Having played for the Emerging Boks in a 13-all draw in a rain-drenched and windswept Newlands last week, he had a taste of what the Lions are all about.

"It wasn't a nice game to play in, considering the conditions," he said of the Newlands showdown, adding that they were up against a quality Test side.

"I will just have to go out there and do what I do best, get the basics right first," Kirchner said about his Test debut.

Despite an appearance of calm on the day that his Test debut was confirmed, the No.15 said he was "definitely nervous".

"Who is not going to be nervous in their first Test," he said.

He said the fact that South Africa have an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series won't change the Boks' approach.

"You still go out to produce a good performance and win the game, that is why you play rugby," he said.

365

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