Cheslin Kolbe and Kwagga Smith will cover Faf de Klerk after South Africa named just one scrum-half in their Rugby World Cup final squad.
The Springboks have named a seven-one split between forwards and backs on their bench for Saturday night’s showpiece clash with New Zealand in Paris.
Wing Kolbe turns 30 on the day that South Africa bid to defend their 2019 title, and become the first team to win four World Cup crowns in the process.
South Africa want to emulate New Zealand and go back-to-back at World Cups for the first time, while the All Blacks themselves can also lift the Webb Ellis Cup for the fourth time overall.
Flanker Smith will also provide further scrum-half cover for the Boks, who have rolled out all their big gun forwards on an imposing bench.
Handre Pollard will start at fly-half, while Trevor Nyakane takes a seat on the bench with Vincent Koch ruled out having been unable to train on Monday.
“Cheslin played sweeper in sevens, which is the equivalent to scrum-half in 15s,” said South Africa head coach Jacques Nienaber.
“He’s always been a guy that if we got a yellow card he would be standing in at half-back, and we’ve prepped him there for a couple of weeks.”
Scrum-half De Klerk backed Kolbe to cope without issue if pressed into service at nine, but insisted he can go the distance in Paris.
“It would be a nice birthday present for Cheslin for us to get him the win,” said De Klerk.
“People in the past said he was too small to play this game, but he quickly showed that’s not the case.
“He works incredibly hard, doesn’t have a doubt in his ability at all. He’ll take on anyone, any place, anywhere.
“I’ve quite enjoyed him training at nine. He’s an unbelievable guy for us as a friend and a player.
“You always think something special will happen when he gets the ball and more often than not it does. So we’re extremely lucky to have him in our side.”
