South Africa captain Corne Krige will miss the Springboks' opening game in Rugby World Cup 2003 against Uruguay at Subiaco Oval on Saturday 11 October.
Krige suffered a hamstring cramp during Wednesday night's training session and is not being played as a precautionary measure.
"It's not serious and if this was a bigger game then Corne may well have played," said Springbok coach Rudolf Straeuli after naming the team.
Scrumhalf Joost van der Westhuizen, who last captained the Springboks against Scotland in June 2002, will captain the team in Krige's absence.
27-year-old flanker Danie Rossouw, who comes in for Krige, and 20 year old centre Jaque Fourie will make their test debuts in the starting line up.