No 8 Jean-Luc du Preez's big Eden Park audition for the Springboks against the Wallabies

After starting the Springboks’ first match of the season against the Barbarians, loose forward Jean-Luc du Preez has pretty much been carrying tackle bags over the last two months.

His initial foray into the team was necessitated by the suspension of regular No 8 Jasper Wiese. But he was still overlooked for the Boks’ Test against Georgia and the first Rugby Championship match against the Wallabies when Wiese was again suspended following a headbutt in the second Italy Test.

Last weekend against the Wallabies, captain Siya Kolisi packed down at the back of the scrum, and before that, utility forward Cobus Wiese wore the No 8 jersey against Georgia.

But Kolisi’s knee injury has opened the door for Du Preez to make a significant statement at No 8, having been selected in the Bok starting line-up for this weekend's crucial Rugby Championship rematch against the Wallabies in Cape Town.

Jasper Wiese is also set to miss the Springboks’ highly anticipated clash against the All Blacks at Eden Park, while Kolisi is also touch and go for the big clash. With Stormers No 8 Evan Roos not really in the picture, Du Preez has the chance this weekend to cement his place in the starting line-up for that massive clash in Auckland.

At his best, Du Preez has a similar profile to Wiese — a strong ball-carrier and an abrasive player on attack and defence.

It’s probably something the Boks lacked in the collisions when Kolisi went off injured after a blistering start saw them squander a 22-0 lead to lose 38-22 at Ellis Park.

Coach Rassie Erasmus scoffed at the idea that they have a crisis at No 8, saying that Wiese will soon be back. But with a lot riding on this weekend’s result against the Wallabies, as well as the clash at Eden Park, Du Preez can maybe ease some of the tension around that crucial position at the back of the scrum.

“I don’t think there is a crisis at No 8. Jasper Wiese is currently banned and he will be back. Siya was excellent on the weekend — he scored a try and bossed the breakdown. Unfortunately, he injured his knee,” Erasmus said after announcing the team for this weekend’s clash.

“Kwagga came on and stole a few balls and made an impact. So, I don’t think the No 8 position is where we lost the game. We’re not bringing in someone new, because we believe that the guys that are here can do the job for us.

“Everybody has asked ‘when is JL (Du Preez) going to get a proper chance’, and it’s his chance now.”

Du Preez will form an unfamiliar back-row partnership with flankers Marco van Staden and Franco Mostert — who is normally a lock, but has played a few Tests on the side of the scrum — in the absence of Kolisi and Pieter-Steph du Toit.

Du Toit has been ruled out with a concussion, and Erasmus views Mostert as a like-for-like replacement. He also mentioned that Van Staden was excellent before he too had to leave the field against the Wallabies with a knock.

Kwagga Smith is on the bench as the only loose-forward cover, after Erasmus decided to go with a 6-2 bench split featuring two locks, following their struggles in the lineout in the second half against the Aussies at Ellis Park.

“Unfortunately, Pieter-Steph also has a concussion, so having Sous (Mostert) there — he has done it many times for us and is probably one of the guys who is the fittest in the team. He is very close to what we have in Pieter-Steph,” said Erasmus.

“We feel a guy like Sous will help us in the lineouts and, in general, when the game gets a little loose, he can help us to tidy it up.

“At altitude we felt that running around would tire their legs, but we got that totally wrong and outsmarted ourselves. The 6-2 (bench split) points more to a grind than a running game. The weather probably won’t allow us to play a running game, which was not effective last Saturday.”