Victor Matfield will captain the Boks for the 11th time against Italy in Witbank on Saturday. Team announced

Matfield takes over the captaincy from John Smit, who is resting this week after injuring his hamstring during the warm-up before the French Test at Newlands in Cape Town last Saturday.

Springbok coach Peter de Villiers has made 11 changes to the squad of 22 for the first Test against Italy.

In the pack, Dewald Potgieter replaces Francois Louw, Bakkies Botha is back at lock in the place of Danie Rossouw, while Jannie du Plessis and Chiliboy Ralepelle take over from BJ Botha and Smit in the front row.

At the back, Butch James and Jean de Villiers are the new centre pairing, with Wynand Olivier and Jaque Fourie granted a break.

On the bench, Bandise Maku, CJ van der Linde, Alistair Hargreaves, Ryan Kankowski and Bjorn Basson are included. None of them featured in the 42-17 victory over France.

Teams:

Springboks:

15. Zane Kirchner, 14. Gio Aplon, 13. Jean de Villiers, 12. Butch James, 11. Bryan Habana, 10. Morné Steyn, 9. Ricky Januarie, 8. Pierre Spies, 7. Dewald Potgieter, 6. Schalk Burger, 5. Victor Matfield (captain), 4. Bakkies Botha, 3. Jannie du Plessis, 2. Chiliboy Ralepelle, 1. Gurthrö Steenkamp

Substitutes: 16. Bandise Maku, 17. CJ van der Linde, 18. Alistair Hargreaves, 19. Ryan Kankowski, 20. Ruan Pienaar, 21. Juan de Jongh, 22. Bjorn Basson

12 Responses to Springbok coach Peter de Villiers has made 11 changes

  • 1

    I see 6 changes, am I losing my mind..

  • 2

    1@ Winston:
    11 Changes in 22, some not complete changes just being promoted from the bench.

    I thought Schalla was struggling with injury… I would have rested him considering the injury or injury scare…

  • 3

    Can anyone else see the need for Butch James. We have enough good centers, what is the aim with that.

  • 4

    3@ superBul:
    Butch is a strange selection indeed

  • 5

    With JdeV and FS as senters i wont have a problem, but in all honesty we have JF, WO, JdeJ, JdeV.

    But Peter have this 45 player squad in his head again. I say it is impossible. Get it down to 35 at most Mr De Villiers.

  • 6

    My bad, was not thinking.. Agreed, Butch must play 10 or go back to England.

  • 7

    Mossie should have played with Jean, to see how they go together, does it still work. Sort of get the feeling that jean is off the pace a bit. Nice of them to give Butch a run, but I think it will confirm what we know, he must go back to Bath and finish his career as the playmaker there. Our front row is going to be sorely tested against one of the better front rows in the world. Castrogiovanni is a machine.

  • 8

    Shadow moes speel en hoe kan jy die 2de
    En 3rd bulls hakker speel
    En nie ons nommer 1
    Sou gary gespeel het…

  • 9

    Springbok captain John Smit will almost certainly be rested for the weekend’s first Test against Italy. Perhaps he should not have taken the field at all after injuring his hamstring in the warm-up before Saturday’s Test.

    “There was a little drama when we had to bandage it as tight as possible with only a minute or so to go,” Smit said, adding that he stayed on a long as possible before coming off at half-time when he was replaced by Chiliboy Ralepelle.

  • 10

    Strong enough team except for 2, 18 and 19.

  • 11

    Nick Mallett says the manner in which the Springboks ripped France apart last week came as a shock to the Northern Hemisphere.

    “I don’t think rugby people in South Africa even realise how good that performance (at Newlands) was. To beat an accomplished French team, that won the Six Nations, like that, was incredible. There is no doubt that South Africa are the best team in the world,” said the former Springbok coach at the Italian team hotel on Monday.

  • 12

    @ superBul:
    I like Nick Mallett….he made a cr*p decision with Teichman in the 99 world cup, but most of the time he is spot on and he is a good coach. He left because he wasnt prepared to put up with the politics SARU dished out, particularly with quota players. He has always had this attitude. He had an absolute blinder at no 7 for the Junior Boks in the early 70’s and when he went off the field he gave the Springbok selectors the finger…literally, because as he said at the time, he knew he had no chance of being selected for the Bok side, because he was too outspoken and because he was English speaking. He immediately left for France after that and went and played his rugby there. I think he can still be controversial, but age has certainly matured him and he doesnt cause as much trouble as he used to. But this was a common trait with my generation, we refused to fit into the establishment. For myself I have always personally been very polite to people that I didnt agree with and would only be an “in your face” character if someone was being obnoxious. English medium schools perpetuated the myth that English and Afrikaans didnt mix, so did the Afrikaans schools. This I did not agree with having spent most of my time in the W Tvl during school holidays working on a family farm…also half my family spoke English and the other half Afrikaans. This myth was further dispelled by all my years in the military, because when you’re in a firefight the guy beside you is instantly your brother, you all of a sudden know how to pray fervently and you are immediately all Christians….its quite funny actually.

    I still wonder though if the selectors would have looked at Mallett on his ability alone….I guess we’ll never know….one thing I am certain of, is that Danie Craven would have been fair. So I must admit I probably like Nick Mallett the most for his non conformity….with all that shouting and arm waving, he probably fits into Italy’s set up quite well.

    As a matter of interest does everyone know what the most common Italian war wound was in the 2nd world war….”sunburn in the armpits”….have a lekker SOWETO day guys.

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