Jacques Nienaber expects a high-quality performance from Springbok scrumhalf Jaden Hendrikse alongside Handre Pollard in a must-win clash with Wales on Saturday.

The Bok coach retained the halfback pairing of last week’s stand-in skipper Pollard and Hendrikse, who is set to run out at Cape Town Stadium for his fourth Test cap.

Nienaber has recalled the core members who helped beat Wales in a nail-biting victory in the opening game at Loftus Versfeld, after a much-changed lineup lost 13-12 to Wales in Bloemfontein last week.

“We selected team and player combinations that we think will be the best for this specific game,” he said.

“We had an honest discussion with the players telling them what we require from them this weekend and what we would like to see in terms of their performance and hopefully they can produce the goods and we can get the desired result. We have high standards as a team, and we would like to maintain that and build momentum with a challenging season lying ahead.”

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The Boks dominated Wales for most of the match on Saturday at Free State Stadium but couldn’t convert their advantage into points, allowing the tourists to stage a late fightback and claim their first win in the Republic.

Nienaber added: “We pointed out from the outset of the series that Wales will be desperate and they showed that in the last two weeks.

“We are expecting another hard grind against them and the fact that they will be playing for their first series victory ever in South Africa will make them even more desperate to push us to the limit this weekend, so we know it will be an epic battle.

“That said, we are also playing in what is essentially a final for us and we know that we need to pitch up on the day and deliver a quality 80-minute performance to emerge victorious.”

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