The Springbok match 22 to face Australia in a Vodacom Tri-Nations Test at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on Saturday shows nine changes to the one that went down 17-31 against New Zealand in Wellington last week.  

There are four changes in the run-on XV and a further five on the reserves bench. 

Amongst the backs, Gio Aplon, who was on the bench in Wellington, starts in place of the suspended Jean de Villiers on the right wing and Ruan Pienaar is promoted to the starting line-up in place of Ricky Januarie at scrumhalf. 

Up front, BJ Botha starts ahead of CJ van der Linde at tighthead prop, whilst Ryan Kankowski is preferred to Francois Louw at flank. 

Van der Linde, who was cleared to play on Tuesday morning after receiving a knock to the shoulder last week, moves to the bench. Further changes here include lock Flip van der Merwe in place of the injured Andries Bekker, Dewald Potgieter as cover for loose forward, Francois Hougaard in place of Pienaar and Juan de Jongh replacing the promoted Aplon. 

Januarie and Louw fall out of the match 22. 

Speaking at a Press Conference on Tuesday, Springbok coach Peter de Villiers said he had based the selection on the expected match conditions at Suncorp Stadium. 

“Statistics show that Suncorp has the fastest playing surface in the Vodacom Super 14 and we have to be prepared for a faster game,” he said. 

“We have two tough games behind us, but if we stick to our structures and use our opportunities I believe this team is capable of getting a result.”

De Villiers added he expected a physical onslaught from the Wallabies at the weekend. 

The Springbok team is:
15 Zane Kirchner (Vodacom Bulls) – 9 caps
14 Gio Aplon (Vodacom Stormers) – 6 caps
13 Jaque Fourie (Vodacom Stormers) – 59 caps
12 Wynand Oliver (Vodacom Bulls) – 31 caps
11 Bryan Habana (Vodacom Stormers) – 62 caps
10 Morné Steyn (Vodacom Bulls) – 17 caps
9 Ruan Pienaar (The Sharks) – 42 caps
8 Pierre Spies (Vodacom Bulls) – 33 caps
7 Ryan Kankowski (The Sharks) – 14 caps
6 Schalk Burger (Vodacom Stormers) – 59 caps
5 Victor Matfield (Vodacom Bulls) – 97 caps
4 Danie Rossouw (Vodacom Bulls) – 50 caps
3 BJ Botha (Ulster) – 24 caps
2 John Smit (The Sharks, captain) – 98 caps
1 Gurthrö Steenkamp (Vodacom Bulls) – 27 caps 

Substitutes
16 Chiliboy Ralepelle (Vodacom Bulls) – 14 caps
17 CJ van der Linde (Vodacom Cheetahs) – 61 caps
18 Flip van der Merwe (Vodacom Bulls) – 2 caps
19 Dewald Potgieter (Vodacom Bulls) – 5 caps
20 Francois Hougaard (Vodacom Bulls) – 1 cap
21 Butch James (Bath) – 39 caps
22 Juan de Jongh (Vodacom Stormers) – 4 caps

Courtesy of sport24

47 Responses to 4 Changes to starting 15 for Bokke

  • 1

    Another match without a specialist fetcher on the flank. Kankowski on the flank; well now I’ve seen everything. All three the loosies are ball players; who the hell is going to do the work at the breakdowns?
    Hell for the first time in my life I hope we don’t win a single match in this years tri-nations. Not that I believe that will make any difference whatsoever in terms of getting PdV out of there.

  • 2

    Finally, no Francois Louw. He has been useless in New Zealand. Cant make the step up.
    But now we have Burger fetching who cant play the fetching role anymore. Obviously we need Brussouw or Stegmann there, but with that squad I wouldve picked Dewald Potgieter at 6.
    And hopefully Juan Smith will take over from Kanko once we return.

  • 3

    Dropping Ricky makes us much better already!

  • 4

    montagu @ 3
    😀 be nice!!
    anyway, it does make the team look some much better with ruan starting and francois hougaard on the bench.

    must say, i wouldve started dewald instead of kankowski though

  • 5

    Geen wonder ons verloor nie….ver te veel Bulls en Stormers in die bok span 🙂

    Bly om te sien hulle het Ricky gedrop. Net jammer is nou te laat. One moes ten minse een van die games in NZ wen.

    Ek kan ons nie sien verloor teen die Wallabies nie.

  • 6

    Against Australia is EXACTLY where Francois Louw would have shone, now we have 2 loosies who disapear when the going gets rough…. Kanko and Spies. This change to the loosies weakens our team’s ground-ball competance by another 30% and it’s going to cost us dear!

    Finally no Ricky….. 7 weeks too late….

    Finally Hougie and Dewald and Juan de Jongh make the bench…..

    So much good in the chosen team, to be undone by one very wayward loosie selection. Wonder what the Game Plan will be…. hope they plan well for Ausie’s weaknesses up front and their failure to have much of a team this season…

    Wat rook die coaches, want daai is seriaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaas shit!

  • 7

    GBS, I hope they bring on Dewald very soon in the game! I agree, this is exactly the game where Louw had to play. I would agree with dewald replacing him, but Kanko?

    I trust Ruan will keep a cool head, he can be brilliant the one moment and pretty bloody average the next.

  • 8

    Ryan Kankowski on the flank is a gamble, but it might just pay off. This is actually a very good team. I am for the first time positive that with this team we now have the ability to klap the Ozmob. The Boks have been on the road for quite some time now and will be exhausted to a degree, but I think a lot is riding on this game and they are going to throw everything at the Ozmob.

    Who will referee this game? I HOPE IT’S A FAIR CONTEST THIS TIME ROUND.

  • 9

    @ rugbybal:

    Can’t remember the dudes name but I know he is from Ireland…

  • 10

    Blouste wrote:

    @ rugbybal:
    Can’t remember the dudes name but I know he is from Ireland…

    OH NO another Nothern Hemisphere ref. But I’m sure the Boks will do their homework on the ref this time. All Blacks were much better prepared than the Boks in all aspects. Who does the technical analysis for the Boks to prepare for a game? Cause I think we are lacking in that department.

  • 11

    I’m not sure, but believe it’s Snorre himself and his assistants.

  • 12

    Blouste wrote:

    I’m not sure, but believe it’s Snorre himself and his assistants.

    Are you the bearer of bad news today?

  • 13

    @ rugbybal:

    😆

    Sad but true…

  • 14

    ok ek moet nou eers cheers vir ‘n rukkie

  • 15

    Tjorts !!!

  • 16

    super

    Ek sien jy hang hier rond, kom se bietjie hallo man.

  • 17

    I agree with all the changes except the Kankowski change….the man is not a fetcher, so we are going to lose the breakdowns, unless BJ Botha is tasked to police this area of play. Kanko is a great player, but this is incorrect use of resources. Schalk is simply not quick enough any longer to contest the breakdown effectively, plus do all the carrying he does.
    I dont understand this selection.

  • 18

    Om deesdae toetsrugby te kyk is dieselfde as om wildtuin toe te gaan:
    Jy eet lekker biltong, drink lekker bier en kyk hoe kak die bokke!

  • 19

    @ Snoek:

    Ja swaer, dis maar moeilik.

    Maar iemand moet dit doen.

    Geluk met daai spannetjie van jou die naweek, julle het ons behoorlik ore aangesit – but – We’ll be back !!! 👿

  • 20

    @ Snoek:Dis darem nie SO erg nie…laat ons sien hoe dinge gaan teen die Ozzies.

  • 21

    @ Blouste:

    Ons het laas jaar ook goed gedoen in die CC, todat die bokke se terug keer.

    Laat mens dink!

  • 22

    @ 4man:

    Ek verstom my maar net hoe vinnig die grappe deurkom as die bokke swakkerig is. Gedink dit is snaaks, toe deel ek dit maar.

    Maar ons is nie ver van ‘n goeie game af nie. Kanko moes net vir Spies vervang het met Dewald op flank, sou dan beter gevoel het oor die naweek se game.

  • 23

    354. sharks_lover(sharks_lover) :
    July 19th, 2010 at 7:18 pm
    @PissAnt(PissAnt)-343: Exactly Morne , and good day mate

    I said the same earlier on R-T

    Yes the ref stuffed us, but we must get over it move on and search for the actual reasons we lost,

    the AB’S went and did their homework after last year and has come back with a bang , whilst we sit with the same style of play

    We have a few players out to sustain the style of play we have ,

    1 Fourie Dup is intrimental for the kick and chase gamewe play, RJ is to slow and does not kick well, also a little selfish although he does bring something else to the table.

    2 Morne steyn firstly does not play great outside of SA and one can see without Fourie Dup he lacks in many area’s

    Then I find no foccused aggression from our forwards, and this is where i believe a JUAN SMITH or a JEAN DEYSEL will make a big difference, they clear rucks more effectively and carry the ball stronger

    None of the present loose forwards do this.

    The AB’s and the Aussies have researched our style of play and have plans for it , and this is where i think our coaching staff have stagnated,

    I know you might now agree boet but most blame lays squarely by the shoulders of the coaching staff ,

    Dare i say it ,?? our team also seems to lack FITNESS

    personally i feel Div should gamble this weekend and play a very different team ,

    This is the route i would follow with the players that are there.

    15 Aplon
    14 Hougaard
    13 Fourie
    12 De Jonge
    11 Habs
    10 Butch
    09 Ruan
    08 kanko
    07 Flo
    06 Burger
    05 Matfield
    04 Roussow
    03 BJ
    02 Smit
    01 Guthro

    reserves:

    16 Chili
    17 Beast
    18 VD merve
    19 Spies
    20 Potgieter
    21 Steyn
    22 WO

    The team should be running as a unit and must support each other in every move, running lines important as well as organised defensive lines

    Not like the defense has been where some run out of position all the time

    his team I believe can beat the Aussies, and bring us back some pride.

    Most of these players etc were heroes just a few months back , now everyone wants their heads?????

    We must also remember the likes of …

    Bakkies, bekker,fourie Dup, JPP, Juan, Bismark, Jannie Dup,Brussow, Adi,and of course now JDiv also now out

    Add to that maybe a Deysel thats also been out injured for 7 weeks now.

    But all things taken in to account I believe we can win.

  • 24

    #23 is the team i feel should have started

    but we have many players out and injured

  • 25

    The Ozzmob have selected a bloody good squad with a possible exception in the front row, where we should have the wood over them in the set phases.

    Only problem I have with the Team (and 22-man squad chosen) is in the loose forwards, where the tough Ozzies, Elsom, Pockock and Brown will give us a hard time in the ground-ball and breakdown battle.

    How in hell can the Bokke select Kanko on Blindside flank… it is patently flawed. Spies and Kanko will leave all the hard ground-ball work for poor Schalla who will fight a lone battle there… even though he is no fetcher or ground-ball fundi.

    If we had a hooker reknowned for his work in the loose, as an extra fetcher, the selection of Kanko could have been contemplated but still not excused at blindside.

    I wish I knew what in hell motivated the Bokke personnel to select Kanko over a true blindsider like Dewald Potgieter or Francois Louw, who although he did not have good Tests at all against the All Blacks would have been ideal to counter Pocock and Elsom and Brown…. seeing as the Ozzmob does not play a true fetcher like Phil Waugh or George Smith anymore.

    Kanko and Spies are weak tacklers too, which will give Genia and Cooper carte blanche to snipe around the edges and make our day hell.

    Backline is now spot-on, with Jean suspended, pity Butch is on the bench and not back in Bath and good on Juan de Jongh’s inclusion on the bench as well as Gio Aplon on the wing where he excelled for the Stormers, defence included.

  • 26

    My loose trio for this week would have been. Kanko 8 – Burger 7 – Potties 6. Pleased Flo has been dropped he was not up to this level yet. Also good to see Aplon to start.

    Thank goodness some sense comes to the Coaches to start Ruan instead of Ricky. See he has been dropped too. Hougaard on the bench. Very good player Hougaard can fill in for scrummie or wing.

    Much better team except for the loose trio. So crazy to have Kanko and Spies playing together. Spies was no where in the last two games. I would have had Spies on the bench and Potties to start.

  • 27

    23@ sharky_forever:
    Francois Hougaard is not a right wing, he was played by the Bulls at left wing (11), knowing full well that that was a stop-gap because he is a scrumhalf….. so 14 does not suit him. Glad he is on the bench though as utility for scrumhalf and wing.

    Left wing is radically different from right wing, due to a number of factors, most importantly which foot the player preferres to kick for touch with from the back, something wings have to able to do to assist the fullback. The other factors are of course speed, which foot is the preferred foot to be stepped off and finishing ability… Hougie certainly has finishing ability and enough speed, but none of us have seen him have a go on the right wing to be able to judge whether he should even be contemplated there. Experiment in the Ti-Nations, never!

    Taking Hougie off the bench and in a starting berth robs the Bokke from a utility player on the bench as well.

    You advocate Gio on fullback whilst he played right wing mostly with fullback only as his stop-gap position at the Stormers. Hell I wish this fab with playing players out of position will get a timely end, for the rubish it represents!

    Butch in place of Morné… hahahaha… I’m laughing because I believe you jest.

    Mr bad attitude needs to go home to Bath, take a bath and relax… he’s a has-been as was seen in the preparation Tests before the Tri-Nations started. He’s one of those who cannot control his temperament as was obvious when he got a mouthing off from the ref when he came onto the field as a sub, just after a brief 2 minutes or so on the field…. oh but I forgot, he played for the Sharks before Bath….. yeahhhhh righttttt, that explains the bias.

    De Jongh in place of Wynand Meisiekind has some serious merit though, seeing as Wynand has not exactly set the last 2 games alight, coupled to the fact that Juan was Mossie’s partner in midfield at the Stormers.

    Whether Kanko or Spies plays No 8 is a matter of six of the one and a half dozen of the other, both very similar with similar flaws. I would have opted for a loosie combo of Schalla -No 6, Francois Louw -No 7 and Dewald Potgieter – No 8 (in the absense of Brussow), knowing that Dewald has played No 8 with distinction and knowing his dad believes his future lies in No 8 rather than at blindside. What distinguishes him from both Spies and Kanko is that apart from hands of gold, he does not shrug away from hard graft in a tight game.

    I’m not in a good mood, so excuse me if I come accross a bit rash.

  • 28

    Anyhow good luck to our Bokke this week. Going to be a tough one I think. We could go home with 3 losses on the trot. Hope not but it could happen.

  • 29

    Good to see Flip there on the bench too. He played so well in the S14 for the Bulls.

  • 30

    Okay just noticed WO is still there to start. Damn why????? He also has not been up to this level. Why I have no idea. He plays brilliant for the Bulls but never for the Boks. De Jongh needs to get the inside centre position when we return home. I think though JdV will get it. I think JdV should play his way back in and not walk straight back into this Boks squad. Give the exciting De Jongh a chance at inside centre once we are home.

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