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The Springbok selectors have included nine new caps in the squad of 37 that will tour Europe in November.
The tour includes Test matches against France, Italy and Ireland as well as two midweek matches, against English Premiership teams Leicester and Saracens.
The touring squad also includes five players who have been recalled whilst the balance of 23 players is the bulk of the squad that won the 2009 Vodacom Tri-Nations tournament.
The newcomers to the Springbok squad are Vodacom Blue Bulls scrumhalf Heini Adams, Vodacom Western Province centre Juan de Jongh, Sharks lock Alistair Hargreaves, Vodacom Blue Bulls utility back Francois Hougaard, Vodacom Cheetahs eighthman Ashley Johnson, Vodacom Blue Bulls hooker Bandise Maku, Vodacom Blue Bulls flanker Dewald Potgieter, who captained the Emerging Springboks against the British & Irish Lions in June, GWK Griquas flanker Davon Raubenheimer and GWK Griquas fullback Riaan Viljoen.
Those who have been recalled are Vodacom Blue Bulls fullback Zane Kirchner and Vodacom Cheetahs wing Jongi Nokwe, who both played in the third Test against the British & Irish Lions in July but were excluded from the Tri-Nations squad, Vodacom Cheetahs centre Meyer Bosman, who was in the SA XV that faced Namibia in May and last played a Test in 2006, Xerox Lions fullback Earl Rose, who toured Europe in 2008 and also featured in the Namibia match, and Xerox Lions prop Heinke van der Merwe, who played one Test match in 2007.
Vodacom Western Province lock Andries Bekker and Sharks wing JP Pietersen, who were injured during the Vodacom Tri-Nations away leg, both return to the squad. The five players who are not included from the group of 28 that did duty during the Tri-Nations are Vodacom Cheetahs flank Juan Smith, who was not considered due to injury, Vodacom Western Province scrumhalf Ricky Januarie, who was not considered, Jean de Villiers and Frans Steyn, who are playing for clubs in Ireland and France respectively, and Sharks lock Johann Muller, who was called to replace the injured Bekker towards the end of the Tri-Nations away campaign.
Commenting on the selection, Springbok coach Peter de Villiers said: “We will go on tour with a strong core of players who have reached great heights this season, but we are under no illusions about the challenges we face.
“We have three tough Test matches – France beat the All Blacks in New Zealand earlier this year and are always tough opponents at home, Italy were competitive away from home against the All Blacks and the Wallabies, whilst Ireland are the reigning Six Nations champions.
“We do, however, have a fairly settled Test team that boasts a significant number of caps and is well experienced with some very cool heads. But, what we have achieved so far will have little bearing and we will be starting from scratch as we try to put the seal on a very successful season”.
De Villiers added that the nine newcomers to the squad had been recognized for their performances during the 2009 Absa Currie Cup.
“All of them put their hands up during the Currie Cup,” he said. “There are others who may consider themselves unlucky not to have made it but it’s an indication of our depth that we were forced to leave some very good players at home.
“We will use this tour to expose the new players to our team dynamic and culture as well as to allow them an opportunity to play at a higher level and perhaps even challenge for a place in the Test 22”.
De Villiers said the five-match tour would also allow him the opportunity to assess various players, particularly at inside centre and fullback in the wake of the departure of Jean de Villiers and Frans Steyn.
“There are a host of players who are capable of challenging for these two positions, but at the same time we will continue to reassess ourselves in all positions to ensure that we are strong in every aspect of the game,” de Villiers said.
The squad of 37 will assemble in Johannesburg on Monday 2 November, with the Springbok team for the midweek matches departing for the UK on Tuesday 3 November. The remaining players will remain in South Africa and depart for France on Tuesday 10 November.
Springbok touring squad 2009
(Test caps in brackets) Forwards (20) John Smit – Sharks, Captain (90)
Victor Matfield – Vodacom Blue Bulls, Vice-Captain (89)
Andries Bekker – Vodacom Western Province (18)
Bakkies Botha – Vodacom Blue Bulls (63)
Heinrich Brüssow – Vodacom Cheetahs (10)
Schalk Burger – Vodacom Western Province (53)
Bismarck du Plessis – Natal Sharks (30)
Jannie du Plessis – Natal Sharks (12)
+ Alistair Hargreaves – Natal Sharks (-)
+ Ashley Johnson – Vodacom Cheetahs (-)
Ryan Kankowski – Natal Sharks (10)
+ Bandise Maku – Vodacom Blue Bulls (-)
Tendai Mtawarira – Natal Sharks (19)
+ Dewald Potgieter – Vodacom Blue Bulls (-)
Chiliboy Ralepelle – Vodacom Blue Bulls (8)
+ Davon Raubenheimer – GWK Griquas (-)
Danie Rossouw – Vodacom Blue Bulls (43)
Pierre Spies – Vodacom Blue Bulls (28)
Gurthro Steenkamp – Vodacom Blue Bulls (22)
* Heinke van der Merwe – Xerox Lions (1)
Backs (17)
+Heini Adams – Vodacom Blue Bulls (-)
* Meyer Bosman – Vodacom Cheetahs (3)
+ Juan de Jongh – Vodacom Western Province (-)
Fourie du Preez – Vodacom Blue Bulls (52)
Jaque Fourie – Xerox Lions (51)
Bryan Habana – Vodacom Blue Bulls (54)
+ Francois Hougaard – Vodacom Blue Bulls (-)
Adi Jacobs – Natal Sharks (28)
* Zane Kirchner – Vodacom Blue Bulls (1)
Odwa Ndungane – Natal Sharks (6)
* Jongi Nokwe – Vodacom Cheetahs (4)
Wynand Olivier – Vodacom Blue Bulls (24)
Ruan Pienaar – Natal Sharks (35)
JP Pietersen – Natal Sharks (30)
* Earl Rose – Xerox Lions (-)
Morne Steyn – Vodacom Blue Bulls (9)
+ Riaan Viljoen – GWK Griquas (-)
+ Denotes new cap
* Denotes recalled to squad
Springbok Tour Fixtures
Nov 6 vs Leicester at Welford Road @ 19h45 (SA 21h45)
Nov 13 TEST vs France at Municipal Stadium, Toulouse @ 20h45 (SA 21h45)
Nov 17 vs Saracens at Wembley Stadium @ 19h45 (SA 21h45)
Nov 21 TEST vs Italy at Stadio Friuli, Udine @ 15h00 (SA 16h00)
Nov 28 TEST vs Ireland at Croke Park, Dublin @ 14h30 (SA 16h30
Sharkie you twit of cos i am not angry with you 😯
I am so upset about this selection, after such a great game of rugby you think what fab talent we got and get quite excited for the team announcment cos of all the talent in the country and then we get this. This does not look like a winning team, something so wrong here on so many levels. Huge mwha
29 – Sharky many shocks there mate. Thought Sykes would have made it. Not long now and I bet you Deysel will make tracks overseas. Think he will be tired of waiting.
Now reading on the otherside that H. Van der Merwe will be playing TH too. Well John will always be selected on this tour first but think Van Der Merwe might be on the bench.
Crazy should play mid week games. Has not played any rugby since April and the last he played was at LH. Phew!!!!! We are having a gamble there.
He should not be shoved in like that but rather made to play there in the S14 next year.
Some crazy selections. Then I expected it. We will never have players in this country always selected on merit alone.
Well he now plays 9 for us and not that great but it is what he wants, so who knows what for the boks. I am no longer upset now i am actually just angry.
<<, sticks tongue out at boompie hehehe lol hun just teasin ya 😆
puma lots of players weill get fed up and leave
Well many shocks in the selections today.
Now just waiting to hear who Sharks have signed for next year. Hope G10 is right Brussow, Alberts and Ludick.
Once again well done Bulls and also Cheetahs was a great game.
Now for the Boks. Just wish we were facing Italy first as a warm up then France. Boks going to be rusty and Bulls Boks might be tired.
Cheers all out of here now.
Go Bokke.
35 – Sharky it will happen have no doubt about it. Pity.
Catch up tomorrow brudda. Out of here now.
see why i aint chattin in keo puma??
there is a blue gum fel;la spewing rascist shit and i know ill only get angry with the idjut
so i not posting in keo lol
the oke is fighting about the black players we say should be there , lol not one word from him about the white players we diss
34 – Sharkie – lol I dont get angry easy just not in my nature but when i do i tend to rant 🙂
night Puma
lol boompie tis fine ill be there to cheer you up 😆
good nite puma tc bro catcha laters
Bok squad:
2 Griquas
3 WP
3 Lions
4 Cheetahs
10 Sharks
15 Bulls
42- Supa Die Boubul – didnt know that, some of them still shouldnt be there, why is no one else upset about this ?
We need to win in Europe, they are licking there lips at the thought of some of the new players
Dankie PDivvie!..Dis die eerste keer dat ek al die bloggers sien saamstem oor enige iets!…He united us !..Het hy dieselfde games as ons gekyk vanjaar ons was daar dalk ‘n ander reeks in ‘n ander dimensie waar Earl Rose ‘n goeie rugbyspeler is?
A lot of people are sure to get “emotional” – perhaps that’s putting it mildly? – over the 37-strong Springbok touring squad named in Pretoria on Saturday.
And of course they always do; it’s been a public and pundit phenomenon since kingdom come.
Although he has some aid in the selection process, the latest party — for a three-Test, five-match mission to Europe — certainly has a quirky, quintessentially “Peter de Villiers” stamp branded all over it.
But before we break down the inspiration and, in a few instances, borderline insult unveiled at Loftus by the Bok coach and confidantes, it is worth keeping one pertinent thing firmly in mind: the team for the key objective of winning the Tests against France, Italy and Ireland respectively looks as though it will be mercifully free of eccentricity.
For the overwhelming nucleus of the Vodacom Tri-Nations-winning match-day “22s” remain very much intact, save for the fact that old warhorse Juan Smith is injured and Jean de Villiers and Frans Steyn have rendered themselves unavailable for the time being by quitting the domestic scene.
And, happily, the likeliest and most sensible candidates to replace those players on this tour will be among the swollen group heading “north” for a few weeks.
Schalk Burger may well be a comforting shoe-in for the blindside role in Smith’s absence, while the versatile, seasoned Danie Rossouw is similarly at hand for No 7, say, should the northern-hemisphere going be heavy and an imposing, door-stopper foil is sought for open-side bolter Heinrich Brussow.
No more De Villiers at No 12? No major problem: there is a quality stand-in option in Wynand Olivier, plus whispers that Adi Jacobs could be summoned for fresh scrutiny at inside centre despite his more recent stationing in a No 13 jersey.
Also on tour will be Meyer Bosman, who I thought played a pretty strong game in that spot in the pulsating Absa Currie Cup final for the vanquished Cheetahs, and the vibrant young Western Province midfielder Juan de Jongh – although the last-named player is presumably earmarked much more for “dirt-track” (if there are such things in England) activity against Leicester and Saracens.
The main fill-in possibilities for Steyn at fullback are, similarly, passport-ready and not too hard to digest: De Villiers will play either of Zane Kirchner or his floating “Tiger Woods”, Ruan Pienaar.
That out of the way, the more peripheral Springbok squad members can now be scrutinised.
Which of the nine new caps in the Boks’ end of year overseas tour is most deserving of his selection?
4 %
Heini Adams
15 %
Juan de Jongh
3 %
Alistair Hargreaves
15 %
Francois Hougaard
9 %
Ashley Johnson
2 %
Bandise Maku
47 %
Dewald Potgieter
1 %
Davon Raubenheimer
5 %
Riaan Viljoen
46, SuperBul…
Kan ons nie vir juan de Jongh ook in bold kry nie. Fancois Hougaard en hy is albei op 15% En ja, ek is so honger vor ENIGE erkenning as ‘n WP ondersteuner, ek piss sommer myself nat.
En nog iets. Earl Rose is iewers tussen die drol wat nie self wil val nie, wat mens moet af skud, en die stukkie snot wat jy teen die die muur van ‘n publieke toilet hokkie kry…
En NOG iets.
Waar is Sarel Pretorius, Jean Deysel, Vermeulen, Liebenberg, Terblanche, Grobbelaar, Strauss, Vermaak. Selfs Naas olivier of Bojrn Basson sou ‘n ver beter keuse gewees het as Rose. FFS, ek sal Dewet Barry kies bo Rose.
maar ja, ek dink die ouens wat ek hierbo genoem het kan jammer voel hulle het dit nie gemaak nie.
GG daar is n nuwe berig , gaan lees daar ook.
What is obsession with Deysel, he is nothing but a rumour.
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