A team comprising star players in the French and English leagues, four Sevens players and six Springboks, will take on the Kings in Port Elizabeth on June 4.
According to an exclusive Sport24 report, former Boks Pedrie Wannenburg (Ulster), Marco Wentzel (Leeds), Gcobani Bobo (Newcastle), Brent Russell (Clermont), Michael Claassens and Heinke van der Merwe (Leinster) have been invited to play for a Premier XV team against the Kings at the Nelson Mandela Bay stadium in a match that will also be attended by Bok coach Peter de Villiers.
The match, which was organised to prepare the Kings for the IRB Nations Cup which begins a week later in Romania, will give these six former Boks a chance to convince De Villiers one last time that they should still be included in his Rugby World Cup squad.
De Villiers said during the past week that he would be open to selecting overseas players for his RWC squad.
Several other South Africans who are currently playing overseas, will also be involved.
Joe Pietersen, Sam Gerber, Conrad Barnard, Ryno Gerber, Coenie Basson and Willie Wepener have all agreed to play in the historic match.
Blitzbokke coach Paul Treu will be part of the coaching team and has requested that Sevens stars Cecil Afrika and Kyle Brown also be included.
Stefan Basson, who was a key player in Treu’s Sevens squad in the past, and who currently plies his trade in Italy, also has agreed to play in the game.
Two unheralded players who are currently making a name for themselves overseas – Petrus du Plessis and Hanno Dirksen – will also be in action and could attract attention from local unions.
Du Plessis has been be a shining light for some time now as a tighthead for Saracens in the Aviva English Premiership as well as in the Heineken Cup.
Former Bok prop Cobus Visagie said recently that Du Plessis should be considered for the Springboks.
“He is a better tighthead than any other in South Africa. He has a good technique and is seldom penalised. He is fit and better on defence than any of the tightheads in South Africa.”
Dirksen, 19, is the son of the former Blue Bulls player Hansie Dirksen who now lives in the United States. He plays for the Ospreys where he challenges for a starting berth with world stars Tommy Bowe and Shane Williams.
Among the star players in France are Wessel Jooste, who has played in more than 150 matches for Bourgoin in the French Top 14 and former Sharks star, Biarritz’s Eduard Coetzee.
Schalk Brits and Joe van Niekerk were also invited but had to decline as they will be in action for the British Barbarians against Wales that day.
Van Niekerk will, however, be available for the Premier XV’s planned match against Namibia in Windhoek on June 25.
That match was organised to help the local team prepare for the World Cup.
Derick Hougaard, currently recovering after a heel operation, is also expected to play in Windhoek and will be out to catch De Villiers’s eye.
Match promoter Willem Strauss didn’t want to confirm all the big names for the match.
“We will make an announcement this week. We try to help Peter (De Villiers) by bringing in some overseas stars.”
Article from Sport24
Why would I feel confident about the judgement of a coach who believes that you can take a hooker, get him to put on weight which turns him into a tight head prop and then simply get him to loose weight and he becomes a hooker again?
@ tight head:
and then blame his union for doing it.
sal net belangstel om joe pietersen en brent russel te sien,en dalk brian mujatie
WOW, a chance to impress against that Fortress of Impregnability, those Demons of Invincibility, that Powerhouse of South African Rugby, the Slumbering Giant of the Coast, the team that is able to beat all comers…a team that will, once given a chance, take Superugby by the scruff of the neck and…..huh? Shite, I’ve been channeling Cheeky Watson again….my apologies…it happens when I OD on bullshit.
@ The Saint:
Hee Hee Hee!!
Ek wonder waar is GBS en n verslag oor Niel Diamond se show?
My een vriend was daar, sy kommentaar lui: FOK! As ek ‘n girl was sou ek sy kind wou he!
super @ 6
wie is neil diamond, oom?
This article is VERY misleading, it catches you with the phrase: “Star Players” then continues and gives you only the names of a number of has-beens, never-has-beens and never-gonna-be’s.
If these players count as stars in Europe, the Heineken Cup is even more pathetic than I thought.
hmmm, see that jeff wilson have given sb williams quite a review ….
hmmmm,
another wc
another superstar
another campaign ending in tears?
..
oh, for anyone who feel like vomiting
you can read the article on
http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/all-blacks/4841743/Sonny-Bill-Williams-could-have-Lomu-impact
@ Ashley:
i wonder where is GBS i want him to read that article, what a write up…
superbul @ 11
did you also feel like vomiting? 😀
Hellooooooooooo,
Neil Diamond was excellent!
Pity we sat so far away though, there was over 52 000 people at the concert.
@ Ashley:
I was happy to read all that, who need more motivation to tackle the hell out of him. Watch the Bulls try it this weekend, WO and Hougie is my favorite candidates to do it.
@ superBul:
Daai hougie het darrem n laagvat wat vir min skrik hoor
jissie as sbw nou in die maag geskiet word sal wilson beslis aan n kopwond sterf,so ver ek onthou was jeff osborne einlik die ster in daai tyd nie wilson nie
jissie as sbw nou in die maag geskiet word sal wilson beslis aan n kopwond sterf,so ver ek onthou was glenn osborne einlik die ster in daai tyd nie wilson nie
Good morning all, just a petty point of correction or maybe to add confusion, Wannenburg (Ulster) and vd Merwe (Leinster) don’t play in the English or French leagues, but in the Magners League which is the Celtic League involving Scotland Wales and Ireland. To just be grouped in with England like that is often a point of contention for the Celts. Anyway Wannenburg’s Ulster is actually in Northern Ireland which for rugby purposes is part of the Republic of Ireland but is actually part of Britain or UK or whatever they call it. Seen him play about 3 or 4 games in the Magners and he has looked quite strong at 8TH man as a ball carrier and some good tackling and some line out takes, just the last game he seemed to give away penalties, he would be quite a valuable backup player to still have at the Bulls but with the amount of quality loosies around in my opinion shouldn’t be a Bok for the World Cup. His team mate Pienaar on the other hand should be there if they are going to go down the road of looking at foreign based players, so you wonder why he wasn’t called in, has he made himself unavaible or does the coach already know what he has in Pienaar and has him in his plans anyway?
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