Springbok coach Jake White has selected loose forward Wikus van Heerden to take a place on the South African bench for this weekend’s Rugby World Cup final against England – at the expense of Bobby Skinstad.

It is the only change to the 22-man squad which defeated Argentina in the semifinal.

The 28-year-old Van Heerden was one of the stars when South Africa beat England 36-0 in their pool match at the same stadium over a month ago.

He started on the openside flank in that game, standing in for Schalk Burger who was serving his suspension at the time.

Van Heerden was also on the bench for the quarter-final match against Fiji when he came on as a replacement for Danie Rossouw, with Burger moving to No 8.

Skinstad took Van Heerden's place among the replacements for the semi-final encounter with Argentina last week.

It is expected that Burger will again move to No 8 in place of Rossouw, with Van Heerden to take his place on the side of the scrum in the latter stages of the match.

"It was quite simple. There were no emotional decisions made,” White said.

"We felt that the way Argentina played, Bobby was suited to that game.

"It's only fair on Wikus as he played a massive role against England in the pool game. He played a massive role in the way we played.

"It's good to have two guys like Schalk and Wikus as part of our mix. We need two guys who can play that role.