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South Africa kept faith with the players that beat the British and Irish Lions when they announced a 23-man squad to play New Zealand in their Tri-Nations opener next month.

The Springboks face the All Blacks in Bloemfontein on July 25 and again in Durban a week later before meeting Australia in Cape Town on August 8.

They start the overseas leg of their campaign against the Wallabies in Perth on August 29.

All but one player in the squad were involved in the recently completed 2-1 series win over the Lions, with the only new addition being the inclusion of tight-head prop Jannie du Plessis in place of Deon Carstens.

Du Plessis won the last of his seven test caps when he played against England at Twickenham in November 2008.

The Springboks have also included lock Bakkies Botha (pictured), whose two-week suspension for charging into a ruck without binding in the second Test against the Lions ends this week.

"The core squad that secured the series win (against the Lions) in the first two tests has great potential as a unit and we believe that they have much more to offer," said Springbok coach Pieter de Villiers.

"That is why we have made sure that we have remained consistent in our selection policy."

Squad

Forwards: Andries Bekker, Bakkies Botha, Heinrich Brussow, Bismarck du Plessis, Jannie du Plessis, Ryan Kankowski, Victor Matfield, Tendai Mtawarira, Chiliboy Ralepelle, Danie Rossouw, John Smit, Juan Smith, Pierre Spies.

Backs: Jean de Villiers, Fourie du Preez, Jaque Fourie, Bryan Habana, Adrian Jacobs, Ricky Januarie, Ruan Pienaar, J.P. Pietersen, Francois Steyn, Morne Steyn.

Reuters