The Springbok starting XV to face France in Toulouse on Friday shows four changes from the run-on XV that did duty in the Boks’ final Vodacom Tri-Nations encounter against the All Blacks in Hamilton in September.
Zane Kirchner, who made his debut in the third and final Test against the British & Irish Lions in July, returns at fullback in place of Frans Steyn, who is currently playing in France, whilst at wing, JP Pietersen, who was injured in the first away match of the Tri-Nations in Perth, returns in place of Odwa Ndungane
Centre Adi Jacobs and No. 8 Ryan Kankowski, who were on the bench in Hamilton, have been promoted to the starting line-up in the place of Jean de Villiers (overseas) and Pierre Spies (injured) respectively.
Danie Rossouw and Ruan Pienaar are only other survivors from the bench in Hamilton, with five changes being made. Lock Andries Bekker, who was also injured in the Perth Test, makes a return as does centre Wynand Olivier, who last warmed the bench for the All Black Test in Bloemfontein in July.
Adriaan Strauss, who has played five Tests to date, replaces Chiliboy Ralepelle at hooker and CJ can der Linde takes the place of Jannie du Plessis at tighthead. Loosehead Wian du Preez, who was called up along with Strauss and Van der Linde this week, is also amongst the reserves.
Du Preez is the only uncapped player in the 22. Van der Linde, a veteran of 56 Tests, last played for the Boks in August 2008 whilst Strauss’ last appearance was in July 2008.
“The core of the match did duty during the Tri-Nations campaign and will provide us with stability going into this tough opening Test,” said Springbok coach Peter de Villiers.
“There are a lot of experienced players in the starting XV as well as on the bench which will be important to our continuity as well as to ensuring that we maintain our structures and play the way we want to.
“I have full confidence in the new players who will be starting on Friday, they have shown their qualities before and we have to make sure we get the best out of them. The three newcomers are all good players in their own right. CJ is very experienced whilst both Adriaan and Wian have been part of the squad previously,” De Villiers said.
Springbok Team (Test caps in brackets):
15 Zane Kirchner (1)
14 JP Pietersen (30)
13 Jaque Fourie (51)
12 Adi Jacobs (28)
11 Bryan Habana (54)
10 Morné Steyn (9)
9 Fourie du Preez (52)
8 Ryan Kankowski (9)
7 Schalk Burger (53)
6 Heinrich Brüssow (10)
5 Victor Matfield (89)
4 Bakkies Botha (63)
3 John Smit – Captain (90)
2 Bismarck du Plessis (30)
1 Tendai Mtawarira (19)
Reserves:
16 Adriaan Strauss (5)
17 Wian du Preez (0)
18 CJ van der Linde (56)
19 Andries Bekker (18)
20 Danie Rossouw (43)
21 Ruan Pienaar (34)
22 Wynand Olivier (24)
Eish..i dont know. Backline looks alot weaker with Adi and Zane instead of JDV ans Frans.
Glad Strauss, Wian and CJ are there. Hope they get gametime to prove themselves.
Bekker shouldnt be there…Rossouw can cover lock. This is an ideal chance to give Potgieter or Deysel n run from the bench.
Full tight five on the bench
hiyas sab and thanks i was about to post an article lol
hiyas supa dupa
the team is much as expected
i think its a good team and no use crying about frans or jean as sadly bok rugby is not as professional as they think
on the bench i dont see bekker as an impact player and rossouw would have been a better choice to cover lock
inplace of him a deysel or pottie would have been a better bet, and i believe would have made far more impact
omg supa we think alike like great minds should lol
i was typing my post and only saw urs now 😆
hiyas puma brudda ^5 hows you today??
good bok team and much as expected
i wish we could get news on the sharks signings or lack of ? 😆
Good luck to the Boks. WO should have started. French have a monster at inside centre that weighs 105kg. Really worried about our centre channel now.
Deysel should have been on the bench too. Daft to leave him out.
Burger gets injured and Bakkies then what? Then Danie to cover for Burger and I don’t rate Bekker when he comes in to replace Bakkies. Danie should replace Bakkies and Danie can replace Kanko too if he got injured. Deysel should have been on the bench to replace Burger if he gets injured. Bekker is surplus there.
agreed puma
#5 and #7
I think we all agree Bekker shouldnt be there. Doesnt bring anything to the table imo.
Sharky, Puma
I wouldve like to see Potgieter on the bench. Hes should rather be the next Bok captain, not Chilliboy. Time to get him part of the mix. But I guess we will have to wait.
i am also a little worried about adi , but wo wasnt great last friday either so imma give him the benifit of the doubt
wo is on the bench incase of adi not playing well anyhows to cover is there
PDV is clearly expecting on helluva forward onslaught with a full tight 5 on the bench.
Im worried about Kirchner at the back as well. I wouldve played this backline:
FDP
Morne
Habana
WO
JF
JPP
Pienaar
supa i know we could argue either way , i would prefer deysel as we need the bulk and power
remember the loose trio isnt the most physical , kanko not that physical
brussow now that physical
schalk is the only really physical loosy
so i cant agree , but pottie would still have been a better choice then bekker
had spies or alberts been the 8th man i might well have agreed to pottie on the bench as it offers variety
# 13 i agree , but lets give them a chance and see , kirchner has been touted for some time by most bulls fans , and who knows he could be the one
the thing is also that ruan is covering scrummy flyhalf and full back
and i think maybe thats snorre’s way of thinking
14#
Bakkies, Vic, Schalk, Rossouw etc. Physical enough I think. And its not like Potgieter is not physical. I think we are gonna need all the help we can get on the ground and Potgieter can fill that role if Brussouw etc get injured. Deysel is more a Danie Rossouw type of player that bashes people.
Out..meeting
ruan also needs to get his full confidence back as he has been messed around so much
he and frans steyn have really had to bare the brunt of nonsence , as they the 2 that have been shifted from pillar a to pillar z
dont agree supa , deysel go look carefully at the stats wins more more in fetching then pottie
deysel was the best fetcher this year for the sharks , botes and daniel not fetchers , even though deysekl is a blindside flank
Kanko en Burger sal heelaand ADI se kanaal moet patroleer.
i am out to
catch everyone laters
21 – Sharky I am well mate. Yes sould like to know the new signings for the Sharks. It is sure taking long for them to let us know.
sould = would
Ek dink die span sal DALK die dink kan doen… maar ek dink ons is dun gesaai agter.
20 – BDB
They going to have too. That French player is huge. Adi should have been on the bench for this game and WO should have started.
I know this sounds just insane, yes stupid, but I would have played D. Potgieter at centre instead of even WO now that JdV is gone. We need to match that huge monster they have in the French side that weighs 105kg.
En wat bedoel julle daar is net twee agterspelers op die bench, dis 3… WO, RP en Andries Bekker.
😉
25 – Also Deysel should have been on the bench to cover for Burger. Need hard men there. We are well covered for the scrum.
They will know this and come at us through our centre channel. Watch. Adi is not a 12 and not been inform this season. Phew!! going to have to watch that space.
19 – Sharky, Agree Deysel wins plenty ball for the Sharks he and Brussow together would never allow them to get our ball.
Don’t mind Burger there tough but would really have thought they would have had Deysel on the bench.
I really feel uneasy about this test.
Kirchner, well there really isn’t anyone else at 15 except Oupa.
Adi, defensivly to frail, Meisiekind or Bosman would be better.
Kanko, has yet to convince me at test level. Yes I remember the test against the Welsh…….
The rest of the team is consistant, even though they have their weakness’s.
The bench, well this is either a slap in the face for the Bulls 3rd choice hooker or an admition from the coaches that Straus should have gone in the first place, same for H Van Der Merwe. I would prefer Potgiter and Danie as the back up forwards. I still don’t understand the Sharks obsession with Deysel.Bekker plays to loose for my liking. Ruan and Meisiekind are the obvious choices.
Hellloooooooo al you RT’s!
Hope you’re all well.
Good team SA this.
Those French are going to come at us, hitting Adi’s channel.
Check YouTube, France vs All Blacks in Dunedin 2009.
Expect much of the same.
Their #9 and #10 are world class players, also #3, #7 and a monster #8.
Going to be a hard night in Toulouse…..
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