Monday 15 September 2014 17:49, UK
South Africa have called up JP Pietersen after Ruan Pienaar was ruled out for the rest of the Rugby Championship campaign.
Springboks No 9 Pienaar damaged his knee in the 14-10 defeat against New Zealand in Wellington.
And with Francois Hougaard and Cobus Reinach already vying for the scrum-half berth, head coach Heyneke Meyer has opted to bring in Pietersen to add depth to his back options ahead of Saturday’s match with Australia.
Pietersen, who now plays in Japan for the Panasonic Wild Knights, has largely been used on the wing, however the 28-year-old has shown his versatility by playing at outside centre during the June Tests.
Meyer said: "JP has always been part of our plans and did very well in June playing at outside centre.
"We've got two scrum-halves in the squad in Francois Hougaard and Cobus Reinach and decided it would be better to bring in an outside back who covers wing and outside centre."
