The Springboks will travel to the Northern Hemisphere next weekend with five uncapped players but without their all-time leading try-scorer and most experienced player, Bryan Habana.
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Habana was the latest key player to be added to a long injury list when he sustained a knee injury in Saturday’s Absa Currie Cup final. Scans on Sunday confirmed he will miss the tour of Ireland, Scotland and England.
South Africa Under-20 winger Raymond Rhule, who was part of the squad that won the IRB Junior World Championship in Cape Town earlier this year and who has shone for the Toyota Free State Cheetahs in the Absa Currie Cup, was named in the squad along with uncapped Jano Vermaak, Franco van der Merwe, Lionel Mapoe and Arno Botha. Of the five, only the 19-year-old Rhule has not been part of a Springbok squad yet this year, but his inclusion forms part of Meyer’s plan to blood promising youngster for the future.
Rhule is one of five wing options with the fit-again JP Pietersen, Francois Hougaard, Lwazi Mvovo and Mapoe. Pietersen, Rhule and Mapoe can also be used at centre, while Hougaard can also play at scrumhalf.
Two Springboks currently based in Europe, Schalk Brits (hooker) and Gurthrö Steenkamp (loosehead prop), have also been recalled to the national squad, bringing the European based contingent to 4 players in the squad. Due to the significant injury toll, the national selectors will only decide on a 32nd player to be added to the squad at a later stage.
Two Springboks who missed the entire Castle Rugby Championship because of injury, JP Pietersen and Chiliboy Ralepelle, are back in the squad.
Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer, whose squad assembles in Cape Town on Wednesday, said it was not easy to select the squad in the light of the high number of players unavailable due to injury.
Injured players that had been part of the Springbok squad thus far this year, but were not considered for selection, are Coenie Oosthuizen, Bismarck du Plessis, Tiaan Liebenberg, Andries Bekker, Siya Kolisi, Jacques Potgieter, Pierre Spies, Johan Goosen, Frans Steyn and Bryan Habana. In addition Springboks Schalk Burger, Juan Smith and Heinrich Brüssow are still out injured.
“We’ve got a settled core of players that did the job during the England series and The Castle Rugby Championship and we decided to stick with them,” said Meyer.
“Obviously losing so many players to injury, the latest being Coenie, Tiaan, Andries, Jacques and Bryan during the Absa Currie Cup, makes it difficult, but this now provides opportunities for other players.
“Gurthrö and Schalk are experienced front rankers who have played for South Africa before and know the conditions in the Northern Hemisphere. This tour provides a good opportunity to assess them as we plan ahead. Arno, Lionel, Franco and Jano have all been part of our squad earlier in the season.
“Raymond put up his hand for the Junior Boks and the Cheetahs and I’m very excited to see what he can do. It’s also great to have JP and Chiliboy back from injury as they bring a lot of experience to the squad.”
Meyer said he expected three extremely difficult Tests: “Although the Springboks won on their last visit to Dublin (in 2010), they lost three in a row before that,” he said.
“In 2010, we lost to Scotland in Edinburgh. They beat the Wallabies in Australia earlier in the year, so it won’t be easy there.
“And in June we’ve experienced first-hand how difficult and opponent England are. They will be fired up at Twickenham and it will be a challenging Test to end the tour with.
“Our aim is to end the season on a positive note. We set ourselves high standards and we want to improve with every Test, but we have a team that is still gaining valuable experience as we strive to constantly be amongst the top sides in the world. We know we’re not there yet, but we’ve laid a foundation in the first nine Tests this year and we will build on that.
“The Rugby World Cup in 2015 also takes place in England, so we will use this tour to see how our players adapt to the conditions as we look ahead to that very important tournament.”
The Springbok squad will assemble in Cape Town on Wednesday and depart to the UK from Johannesburg on Saturday. They will return to South Africa on Monday, 26 November.
The Springbok squad for the Castle Outgoing Tour to Ireland, Scotland and England:
Forwards:
Willem Alberts (The Sharks) Loose forward – 17 Tests
Arno Botha (Vodacom Blue Bulls) Loose forward – 0 Tests
Schalk Brits (Saracens, England) Hooker – 3 Tests
Pat Cilliers (MTN Golden Lions) Prop – 3 Tests
Marcell Coetzee (The Sharks) Loose forward – 9 Tests
Jannie du Plessis (The Sharks) Prop – 39 Tests
Eben Etzebeth (DHL Western Province) Lock – 8 Tests
Juandré Kruger (Vodacom Blue Bulls) Lock – 5 Tests
Francois Louw (Bath, England) Loose forward – 14 Tests
Tendai Mtawarira (The Sharks) Prop – 41 Tests
Chiliboy Ralepelle (Vodacom Blue Bulls) Hooker – 21 Tests
Gurthrö Steenkamp (Toulouse, France) Prop – 38 Tests
Adriaan Strauss (Toyota FS Cheetahs) Hooker – 18 Tests
CJ van der Linde (MTN Golden Lions) Prop – 73 Tests
Flip van der Merwe (Vodacom Blue Bulls) Lock – 20 Tests
Franco van der Merwe (MTN Golden Lions) Lock – 0 Tests
Duane Vermeulen (DHL Western Province) No 8 – 4 Tests
Backs:
Juan de Jongh (DHL Western Province) Centre – 12 Tests
Jean de Villiers (Captain and DHL Western Province) Centre – 81 Tests
Francois Hougaard (Vodacom Blue Bulls) Scrumhalf / Wing – 24 Tests
Elton Jantjies (MTN Golden Lions) Flyhalf – 2 Tests
Zane Kirchner (Vodacom Blue Bulls) Fullback – 21 Tests
Pat Lambie (The Sharks) Fullback – 17 Tests
Lionel Mapoe (MTN Golden Lions) Wing / Centre – 0 Tests
Lwazi Mvovo (The Sharks) Wing – 7 Tests
Ruan Pienaar (Ulster, N Ireland) Scrumhalf – 60 Tests
JP Pietersen (The Sharks) Wing / Centre – 45 Tests
Raymond Rhule (Toyota FS Cheetahs) Wing – 0 Tests
Morné Steyn (Vodacom Blue Bulls) Flyhalf – 41 Tests
Jaco Taute (MTN Golden Lions) Utility back – 2 Tests
Jano Vermaak (Vodacom Blue Bulls) Scrumhalf – 0 Tests
49 @ Just For Kicks:
You actually have a awesome team for next year. They will be very hard to beat.
We just getting Butch and Van der Merwe from the Lions. Though that is fine. We do have some good depth. Fransie should be fine for Feb. Only Bissie will be back in April. That is a massive loss for us. Kanko will be back for Super Rugby from the start this time. Just hope he don’t pick up a injury in Japan now… LOL.
@ grootblousmile:
After yesterdays performance no dout Etzebeth will be our Player of the year, that kids is a super star
61 @ Puma:
With Kanko returning, who of your current loosies do you leave out?
Keegan Daniel?
Marcell Coetzee?
Willem Alberts?
Jean Deysel?
Kanko will find it hard to get a starting spot… unless injuries occur
54 @ Sharks_forever:
That could be.
I actually not bothered anymore who plays for the Boks. Not even that bothered how we play win or lose. Am slowly starting to not care.
61 @ Puma:Yup, you Sharkies look good too, as do the Bulls, who have some prodigious talent coming through too. Very good for SA rugby.
62 @ Sharks_forever:
He showed some big BALLAS yesterday… the lad is going to be a legend one day
63 @ grootblousmile:
Not sure we have such great loosies.
Okay have to dash. Have visitors over.
Cheers everyone.
@ smallies:
Ek stem 100% saam met jou.
die selfde met keegan is hy regtig beter as alberts duanne coetsee flou brussow ek reken hy staan tans so 8 ste in die pecking order van loosies,fourie se probleem tans is jack of all trades and master of none
The WP loosies yesterday had a field day and outclassed their much vaunted Sharks counterparts… Deon Fourie and Duane Vermeulen showed some serious class yesterday, backed up ably by Etzebeth and also by young Scarra Ntubeni!
@ smallies:
As hakker staan hy so 5de in die ry as flank nog agter keegan
@ grootblousmile:
Hy is n ou breker dis verseker
I’d rather have a problem picking between the many stars we have in SA for Springbok positions, than have to battle to find somebody for a certain spot… that seems to be Heyneke Meyer’s conundrum at the moment.
72 @ smallies:
Wie?
@ grootblousmile:
Die laaity met die ballas
75 @ smallies:
Hy word More eers 21…
To say that Fourie is master of none, means that perhaps we need to watch the last few CC matches again, without blinkers on.
@ grootblousmile:
Talk is up north that Bakkies right now is the best Lock on show
Brilliant tweet from someone called Nutter Version 1: – how cool is it for SARU to send Lambie on an all expenses trip to the UK for the bokke end of year tour… and he gets a pitchside seat…
@ Just For Kicks:
Meaning he must decide wich he wants to be,pers sou ek se hy moet konsentreer op flank hy was evil gewees gister en het n helse aandeeel aan die wp se wen gehad
With Siya Kolisi back next year and Scalla there again after injury… Deon Fourie will be moved back to hooker…. I have no doubt.
So, what would the sense have been to pick Deon Fourie as a loosie for the Bokke tour now?
By the same token, with Deon Fourie back at hooker, Tiaan Liebenberg back from injury and Scarra Ntubeni probably being No 3 hooker for the Stormers… what would the sense have been for selecting Scarra to carry tackle bags on the End Of Year Tour?
@ grootblousmile: Deon Fourie will be at Toulon next year. I reckon Scarra will be above Liebenberg before long, and time with the Boks…..no, I wont go there, I want to remain in a good mood!
@ Just For Kicks:
I don’t think he signed with Toulon. I might be wrong, but iI think he’s staying at wp.
83 @ leon:I hope so
82 @ Just For Kicks:
Deon Fourie is NOT going to Toulon… 3 days ago declared he is staying with Province and the Stormers.
See this: http://sport.iafrica.com/news/823908.html
arno botha is n kontroversiele keuse,ek sien dit egter as die begin van die grootmaak proses van die nuwe permanente bok kaptein….
Arno Botha covers No 7 (blindside in SA) and No 8 so well, I’d be very tempted to have him on the bench in the Tests – he is young, he is big, he is strong, he has good hands, he defends well… but then again Marcell Coetzee covers No 6, No 7 and No 8. I have no problems with the loosies selected, the balance in the Springboks loosies in the last few Tests have been great, and I would not have selected Keegan Daniel either, neither Deon Fourie, as he is bound to return to hooker in 2013.
I have no problems with the locks selected either, Bresler and Sykes were ordinary yesterday, so the 2 Bulls locks (Flip van der Merwe and Juandré Kruger) and Etzebeth would have been my prime locks anyway, with Franco van der Merwe a bit of a surprise… but I expected that, Franco having been in the broader squad.
Props… well simply put, CJ van der Linde does not belong in the squad, probably there only because he covers both loosehead and tighthead and because Coenie Oosthuizen is injured and not available. No problems with Beast & Gurthro (loosehead props) and no problem with Doc Jannie and Pat Cilliers (tighthead props).
Hookers… Adriaan Strauss to start with Chiliboy on the bench… and Schalk Brits to carry tackle bags is fine by me too.
Scrummies… also no surprise, the 3 chosen were all in the Bokke squad this year. Ruan Pienaar knows Northern Hemisphere conditions and players intimately, Hougie will be replacement scrummie should something happen to Ruan…. and Jano Vermaak will be there only in case of emergency.
At flyhalf, Morné Steyn’s selection I suppose is what pisses the punters off… it has become a hate campaign of note! It’s not the fact that Lambie is in the squad supposedly as fullback, nor the fact that Elton Jantjies is in the squad as the other flyhalf.
Centres… well we knew Jean de Villiers would be there (bar possible injury concerns) as Springbok Captain, we also expected Jaco Taute, Juan de Jongh and Lionel Mapoe there. Pity Paul Jordaan misses out.
Wings… I don’t think there is much debate that these okes chosen are the logical choices…. with Hougie always going to be there to cover as scrummie as well… and Rhule the new exciting kid on the block.
At fullback the problem seemingly lies with the continued selection of incumbant Zane Kirchner (a serious case of Crusty hate brewing everywhere…. because Lambie is the overriding golden boy wonder in many people’s eyes). People quickly forget however that Kirchner was clearly better than Lambie only 3 short weeks ago… on the actual Test field.
So, in essense, I think one can complain about 2 selections, that of Morné Steyn and that of CJ van der Linde.
With a 32nd player yet to be named, I can’t see the 32nd player being a prop, hooker, lock or loosie… the cover there is ample. I would not be surprised to see the name of an inside centre like Francois Venter there or an outside centre like Paul Jordaan… or even possibly the name of Louis Ludik, which would open the option to play Lambie at flyhalf.
@ grootblousmile:
I agree with everything except about Morné. Ithonk Morné still have a lot to over. He’s tactical kicking is still the best of all the other flyhalves. His defence is a lot beter and he gets his backline away quite nicely. His kicking will be sorted by Vlok.
The only thing Lambie has over hime is a little chip kick he do every now and then. Lambie’s tactical kicks is average at best and his defence is no beter than Morné’s.
Jantjies didn’t really impress me either. I only really watched him in the last two games as I didn’t watch a lot of Lions games during the year, but the little I’ve seen didn’t impress me that much. In the game against the Bulls he was very bad.
88 @ leon:
I have nothing against Morné Steyn’s selection… but clearly other people do.
Maybe some rest for Morné Steyn would have given him the opportunity to work with Vlok Celliers and to get the cobwebs out of his head… and be a points machine again in 2013 the Bulls need and deserve.
I have a problem with Louis Koen’s selection as kicking coach… and wonder seriously about Ricardo Laubsher’s choice as backline coach…. but then again, who else was available to Heyneke Meyer at the time.
@ leon:
Die grootste probleem met steyn is loei skoen ek verstaan nie hoe drie skoppers met 80% gemiddeldes skielik kon val na 50%
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