Sept 25 (Reuters) - Scrumhalf Herschel Jantjies ⁠could be forgiven for thinking his Springbok career was over, but a year ⁠out from the Rugby World Cup he will be given a chance to ‌audition for a place in that squad when he lines up against Australia in Perth on Sunday.

Jantjies, 30, has played one test for South Africa in the last three years, having been a member of ​the 2019 World Cup-winning squad and a regular for ⁠the two years that followed.

Injury and ⁠the form of others saw him overtaken in the pecking order, but coach Rassie Erasmus ⁠has ‌brought him back into the fold to vie with Cobus Reinach, Grant Williams and Morne van den Berg for a place in next year’s World Cup ⁠squad.

"The fire burns in me again," Jantjies told reporters. "I again ​feel like a young ‌22- or 23-year-old Herschel Jantjies.

"A lot has changed (within the team), it is incredible ⁠working with the ​coaches like Tony Brown and Jerry (Flannery). There have been a lot of learnings from them and seeing how they want to play the game.

"The opportunity is here now and it is time for ⁠me to show what I have learnt. Being ​in the squad and not playing, I still learnt a lot from the training and sitting in the team meetings."

Jantjies’ chance has come after injury to Grant Williams and a desire ⁠by Erasmus to rotate his players, making 13 changes for the one-off test against Australia.

"The competition (among) the nines in the squad is amazing. We challenge each other in a healthy sense. Grant, Krappies (Van den Berg) and Cobus are all great players.

"Each one of them ​has something special that they bring to the game and ⁠it is very important to me that I can learn from them and learn from ​the coaches.

"It doesn’t make it easier for me, but ‌it gives me the energy to want to ​show the coaches and say to the team I do belong here. Hopefully I can show that on the weekend."

(Reporting by Nick SaidEditing by Peter Graff)