The selection of 8 uncapped players and the return of a further 6 are the features of the Springbok squad named on Saturday for the 5 matches leading up to the Rugby World Cup later this season.
In addition to the 36 squad members, the national selectors have identified 13 players who are currently injured or will be in rehabilitation, but will form part of an extended squad for the matches against the World XV, Castle Lager Rugby Championship and the Test against Argentina in Buenos Aires.
The uncapped players in the squad are Scarra Ntubeni, Steven Kitshoff, Vincent Koch, Rudy Paige, Faf de Klerk, Jesse Kriel, Franco Mostert and Lionel Mapoe.
Back in the Springbok fold after not featuring in any Springbok Tests last year, are Elton Jantjies, Frans Steyn, Jaque Fourie, Heinrich Brüssow, Pieter-Steph du Toit and Heinke van der Merwe.
The currently injured players included in the squad are Springbok captain Jean de Villiers, Lionel Mapoe, Heinrich Brüssow, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Frans Steyn, Coenie Oosthuizen, Lood de Jager, Duane Vermeulen, Cobus Reinach, Pat Lambie, Jaque Fourie, Jan Serfontein and Fourie du Preez. The latter suffered a knee injury while training with his Japanese club earlier this week.
“It’s a long list of injured players but all of them are in the selection frame and we’d like to work with them to assist with their rehabilitation,” said Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer.
“Some of them are close to full fitness and they will start training as soon as possible. We’ll assess and manage all the injured players individually with their return to play in mind and will do what is the best for the player and the team, even if it means that some of them play for their clubs or provinces if deemed necessary by our medical team and in consultation with their unions.
“Coenie Oosthuizen has been selected, but he has a neck injury which will rule him out of joining the squad immediately. We will wait for medical clarity to ensure we do what is best for Coenie before a decision is made on the way forward.
“Even though Jaque Fourie announced that he had retired from Test rugby late last year, we have had positive talks with him and his club, Kobe in Japan, and an agreement was reached that he will be available for 1 last season of Test rugby. As soon as he’s back to full fitness, we’ll consider him for selection.
“Jean de Villiers’ rehabilitation is going very well but his return to play will be strictly monitored before an announcement in this regard is made.”
Scarra Ntubeni (hooker), Rudy Paige (scrumhalf) and Lionel Mapoe (outside back) have been part of Springbok tour squads before, but this will be the 1st involvement at international level for Faf de Klerk (scrumhalf), Franco Mostert (lock), Steven Kitshoff and Vincent Koch (both props).
Meyer added that Vodacom Super Rugby form weighed heavily and as always there were a number of players who were desperately close to selection, but just missed out in the end.
“This is testament to the great depth we’ve managed to build in most positions over the last few years. It’s good to know we have players outside this squad who will be able to slot in should it be necessary,” said the Springbok coach.
“Scarra has been with us before and he has done a great job specifically in the scrums with Vincent, Steven and Frans Malherbe for the DHL Stormers this year.
“Lionel, Franco, Faf and Elton have been part of the ever-improving Emirates Lions, while Rudy and Jesse grabbed their opportunities for the Vodacom Bulls this season.
Meyer added that he was pleased to have Heinke van der Merwe, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Heinrich Brüssow, Frans Steyn and Jaque Fourie back with the Springboks.
“They are players with international experience and we know what they can do. It will be great to welcome them back into the Springbok fold and I know they will add value,” said the Springbok coach.
“It was great to see players such as Morné, Heinke, Bryan, Schalk Brits and Francois play in and win finals with their clubs in Europe.”
“We also talked to Andries Bekker as we wanted to consider him for selection, but upon a request from his club in Japan he was ultimately not picked for the squad at this stage. Hopefully he will be available at a later stage during the season.
“Flip van der Merwe was on our radar but ultimately he has decided to rule himself out of Springbok contention.”
Meyer said that he didn’t want to go into the 2015 Test season without exploring all options available to the Springboks.
“We will be guided by our medical team and specialists to ensure no stone is left unturned as we manage the injured players’ return to play. The players who have been included in the squad because of injuries to others must use this opportunity to break down the door to ensure they remain part of the squad as we look forward to the World Cup.
“As certain players regain fitness, others will be sent back to their provinces, but that doesn’t mean they are out of our thinking completely as the door to World Cup selection will never be fully closed. We talked to every player we thought could add value and considered every option available to us.
“The next 5 matches, before we finalise the squad for the Rugby World Cup, will be very important as we want to ensure the right 31 players are on the plane to England on 11 September.
“We have done a lot of planning and research and are well-prepared for the season. We’ll use the matches against the World XV, Australia, New Zealand and Argentina to fine tune where necessary, but the next 2 months also provide the players with an opportunity to put themselves in contention to make the World Cup squad.”
The Springbok squad is (in alphabetical order):
- Willem Alberts (Cell C Sharks), Loose forward, 32 Test caps
- Schalk Brits (Saracens, England), Hooker, 7 caps
- Schalk Burger (DHL Stormers / Suntory, Japan), Loose forward, 75 caps
- Marcell Coetzee (Cell C Sharks), Loose forward, 26 caps
- Damian de Allende (DHL Stormers), Centre, 3 caps
- Faf de Klerk (Emirates Lions / Steval Pumas), Scrumhalf, 0 caps
- Bismarck du Plessis (Cell C Sharks), Hooker, 70 caps
- Jannie du Plessis (Cell C Sharks), Prop, 62 caps
- Eben Etzebeth (DHL Stormers), Lock, 33 caps
- Elton Jantjies (Emirates Lions), Flyhalf, 2 caps
- Bryan Habana (Toulon, France), Wing, 106 caps
- Cornal Hendricks (Toyota Cheetahs), Wing, 11 caps
- Zane Kirchner (Leinster, Ireland), Wing / Fullback, 29 caps
- Steven Kitshoff (DHL Stormers), Prop, 0 caps
- Vincent Koch (DHL Stormers / Steval Pumas), Prop, 0 caps
- Siya Kolisi (DHL Stormers), Loose forward, 10 caps
- Jesse Kriel (Vodacom Bulls), Fullback, 0 caps
- Willie le Roux (Toyota Cheetahs), Fullback / Wing, 25 caps
- Francois Louw (Bath, England), Loose forward, 34 caps
- Frans Malherbe (DHL Stormers), Prop, 4 caps
- Victor Matfield (Vodacom Bulls), Lock, 121 caps
- Teboho “Oupa” Mohoje (Toyota Cheetahs), Loose forward, 7 caps
- Franco Mostert (Emirates Lions), Lock, 0 caps
- Tendai Mtawarira (Cell C Sharks), Prop, 64 caps
- Lwazi Mvovo (Cell C Sharks), Wing, 10 caps
- Scarra Ntubeni (DHL Stormers), Hooker, 0 caps
- Trevor Nyakane (Vodacom Bulls), Prop, 13 caps
- Rudy Paige (Vodacom Bulls), Scrumhalf, 0 caps
- Ruan Pienaar (Ulster, N Ireland), Scrumhalf, 80 caps
- JP Pietersen (Cell C Sharks), Centre / Wing, 59 caps
- Handré Pollard (Vodacom Bulls), Flyhalf, 9 caps
- Morné Steyn (Stade Francais, France), Flyhalf, 59 caps
- Adriaan Strauss (Vodacom Bulls), Hooker, 44 caps
- Heinke van der Merwe (Stade Francais, France), Prop, 4 caps
- Marcel van der Merwe (Vodacom Bulls), Prop, 4 caps
- Warren Whiteley (Emirates Lions), Loose forward, 2 caps
Injured / Conditioning squad:
- Heinrich Brüssow (Toyota Cheetahs / Docomo, Japan), Loose forward, 20 caps
- Lood de Jager (Toyota Cheetahs), Lock, 9 caps
- Jean de Villiers (DHL Stormers), Centre, 106 caps
- Fourie du Preez (Suntory, Japan), Scrumhalf, 70 caps
- Pieter-Steph du Toit (Cell C Sharks), Lock, 2 caps
- Jaque Fourie (Kobe, Japan), Centre, 72 caps
- Patrick Lambie (Cell C Sharks), Flyhalf / Fullback, 40 caps
- Lionel Mapoe (Emirates Lions), Centre, 0 caps
- Coenie Oosthuizen (Toyota Cheetahs), Prop, 21 caps
- Cobus Reinach (Cell C Sharks), Scrumhalf, 6 caps
- Jan Serfontein (Vodacom Bulls), Centre, 20 caps
- Frans Steyn (Cell C Sharks), Centre, 53 caps
- Duane Vermeulen (DHL Stormers), No 8, 29 caps
@ ryecatcher:
cosidered = considered.
150 @ ryecatcher:
Hey Rye, I am just making the point that whittling a squad down from 49 to 31 will leave some seriously disappointed okes.
Just looking at the loose forward. Alberts, Burger, Coetzee, Kolisi, Flouw, Oupa, Whitely, Brussouw and Duane.
Kolisi is confirmed contractually though arguably he was good this year. Duane, Flouw is going, Oupa is going because he can cover lock against T2 teams. For the life of me I cant imagine anyone leaving Marcel out for Brussouw, then it is basically Burger, Alberts and Whitely all for one spot. (Alberts could well be saved because he can play lock).
… So either one or two players of Burger, Alberts and Whitely will miss out.
153 @ MacroPolo:
If Alberts is selected, it will be on reputation only… he has been rather underwhelming upon his return to the field here towards the latter stages of Super Rugby.
The “Bone Collector” collected very few bones in the last year and seemed lazy and lack-lustre in his approach.
It will be near impossible to leave Schalla out, for various reaons and the one who would bite the dust and maybe unfairly so is Warren Whiteley!
@ grootblousmile:
Alberts needs to be on form.
but in my opinion one of the biggest problems in South African Rugby is that we dont get enough quick ball from the rucks… I am confident that if you put Smith, Kerr barlow, Perenara behind one of our packs at ruck time and they will struggle. Quick ball is GOLD.
We give Pienaar so much crap, and the excuse is that he is too slow for our type of rugby… complete bullshit, we keep giving all our scrumhalves slow ball, the inconsistency of slow ball also contributes to our 9’s being so inconsistent.
There is not enough forwards to do the dirty work to give us that quick ball and if you play a combination of Beast, Bissie, Jannie, Eben, Matfield, Flouw, Schalla and Duane… essentially your two cleaners will be Eben and Duane, the other guys hit rucks fairly little, so our 9’s will almost always struggle even if we keep the “ball in hand” it will mean very little, we will eventually kick the ball away.
The All Blacks thrive on quick ball and if you look at the Hurricanes this year, their locks Broadhurst, Thrush, Shields, Goodes, and Vito have laid an incredibly solid foundation for guys like Ardea, TJ and the rest of the backline.
Therefore guys like Alberts > Schalla for me. Even if the form shows otherwise, it will be our best chance. Schalla has been more a playmaker than anything with the odd steal… can he clear quick ball? I am not so sure, De Allende was probably the best cleaner for the Stormers in the last few weeks… and then the forwards are the guys standing in the backline… Alberts on Form is pivotal for the Springboks and was sorely missed in November.
155 @ MacroPolo:
Alberts’ monster tackling from the Blindside flank position , as well as his hard strike running was always his best weapons.
But it’s as if his interest / fittness / committment has gone walk-about…
That said, I agree with you regarding quick ball for the scrumhalves… but it goes much deeper than just hitting rucks harder, with more players doing so.
It’s about the way you go into contact and lay the ball back to make quick ball much more of an option, and I think that is where the New Zealand sides are way, way ahead of us!
1. Firstly in when and the manner in which they go to ground (if they cannot offload in the tackle).
2. Secondly in where they place the ball and how the follow-up players join the ruck.
3. Thirdly in how they drive over the ball to quickly open it up for distribution.
In other words its about skills again, this time ruck skills!
155 @ MacroPolo:
The principle reason I give Ruan Pienaar so much kak is the fact that he even slows down the little quick ball there genuinely is, he does it deliberately as part of his play, hands right there by the ball, not picking up wide open faster ball and letting the leather flow wide.
That and a few other things.
I think SA’s current most successful fast ball No 8 and Scrummie is none other than Warren Whiteley and Faf de Klerk… of course in conjunction with the mindset of the rest of the forwards and Lions team mates.
But you are right, New Zealand sides flourish on quicker ball, that is for sure.
@ grootblousmile:
Yep also we tend to just attempt to dive into players who often just duck down and go even lower. While the kiwis also try to pull you up away from the ball.
Pienaar also often has to dig for the ball, or there is to many opposition players on the fringes because our forwrds are either on the floor or all in the backline.
@ grootblousmile:
Last year pienaar got some quick ball when flouw coetzee and duane were combining beautifully, when he got injured nz clawed their way back into the game and eventually beat us by 5 points… So he sure can play quickly with support from his teammates.
Schalk worries me because he takes too many balls at first receiver, it sure looks extravagant and great but it ultimately is not his job, even with the stormers superior pack they still couldnt secure quick ball and de allende often had to make clear outs.
159 @ MacroPolo:
Yeah, frustrating overall… to see what we perceive is wrong, yet we can do nothing about it!
Hopefully Richie Gray works his magic in teaching and getting the Bokke ready again at the breakdowns!
The mindset shift is big though, as soon as they improve one aspect (like breakdown play), something else seems to suffer, like quick and proper backline distribution OR scrumming OR whatever.
The biggest problem’s going to be lifing all the Bokke away from the bad Super Rugby season in 2015, where all SA sides basically played well under par.
There is no way that a fit Schalk Burger will get left behind.
Just saying…..
@ Stormersboy:
I am sure he will go… your loose forwards for the RWC squad?
Race targets & fitness permitting, HM’s utterances, conduct & selection track record (during his tenure) suggest to me that this will be HM’s preferred match day squad:
1. Tendai Mtwarira
2. Bismarck du Plessis
3. Jannie du Plessis
4. Eben Etsebeth
5. Victor Matfield
6. Francois Louw
7. Willem Alberts
8. Duane Vermeulen
9. Fourie du Preez
10.Pat Lambie
11. Bryan Habana
12. Frans Steyn
13. Jean de Villiers
14. JP Pietersen
15. Willie le Roux
16. Trevor Nyakane
17. Adriaan Strauss
18. Frans Malherbe
19. P-S du Toit
20. Marcell Coetzee
21. Ruan Pienaar
22. Handre Pollard
23. Damian de Allende
Add 8 players (3 of them another entire front row) & you have the likely WC squad:
24. Heinke van der Merwe
25. Scarra Ntubeni
26. Marcel van der Merwe
27. Oupa Mohoje
28. Schalk Burger
29. Rudy Paige
30. Lionel Mapoe
31. Zane Kirchner
I doubt that HM will consider recent form as a selection clincher. I think HM will have a preference for experience, especially NH experience, & for players that are familiar and comfortable with his approach, expectations & demands, &, of course, his game plan – players that are mostly already ‘part of the family’, so to speak. Consequently I foresee only 1 new cap in the 31-man squad.
Players on standby could very well be:
1. Steven Kitshoff
2. Schalk Brits
3. Vincent Koch
4. Franco Mostert
5. Siya Kolisi
6. Warren Whiteley
7. Cobus Reinach
8. Morne Steyn
9. Jan Serfontein
10. Cornal Hendricks
11. Jesse Kriel
Of course, I have my own lounge lizard selection views, as do most of us, but that is another matter. This post is pure conjecture – trying to imagine what HM will do.
@ Angostura:
Pretty predictable squad Meyer would select Angos.
I hope guys like Heinke get a proper chance, I would be terribly disappointed if we play the majority of the year with beast and Jannie.
@ MacroPolo:
I think that HM will go with
Vermeulen
FLouw
Burger
Coetzee
Whiteley
Kolisi/Oupa
The problem is that there is no specialist cover at 8th man, hence the selection of Whiteley. Otherwise he would be the unlucky loser.
grootblousmile wrote:
The missing piece of the puzzle?
@ Stormersboy:
Kolisi and Oupa will both go me thinks.
MacroPolo wrote:
Maybe. I’d pick neither personally.
I think Meyer is never going to please everyone, so regardless the final choice will be controversial in some way.
The lack of specialist 8th men in the likely contenders is a concern for me, and this is where Alberts has an advantage.
Brussouw, Flo, Coetzee, even Kolisi and Burger do the fetching job well, but you can’t have them all.
The loose forward position is not really a concern for me, getting the balance right is important though, and as we know it’s a given that Duane will start the important games.
For me there are some areas of concern, such as 5, 9 and 13. No real depth of talent as in the loose forward dept.
@ Stormersboy:
Alberts can also play lock, Recently I have been craving the need for Schalk to play at 8, too bad that will never be realized 🙂
No problem with Kolisi for me, he is in the Hooper mould of opensiders, an efficient defender and that is crucial for any team.
I agree that the combination is essential and Oupa is an incredible weakness imo, but he can play lock… sigh if only psdt could stay fit, he would have to world in his hands. If we can get that combination right though, I am confident it will have a knockon effect to the rest of the backline as well if quick ball can be secured.
MacroPolo wrote:
True about PSDT
Kolisi is a good player, but if you think of players who are playing 6 at the moment you have Coetzee and FLouw, Burger even on occasion. Just not sure where he can fit in.
And yes, agree that SA Rugby missed a trick with Burger at 8.
@ Stormersboy:
Hi pal.
Looking at this as dispassionately as possible.
The selection of Flo,SB Marcel and Alberts (Impact lock/loose forward) a sine qua non.
Kolisi or Brussouw as an impact loose forward.
Why Oupa is even being discussed in this company is beyond me.Particulary when one looks at the quality
of loose forward not in the squad,.
We have a loose forward dilemma which HM acknowledged when he asked “who do I leave out?”
Hope that you are well.
Regards.
(Sorry about the Latin.The need to be pompous is a
s-q-n.)
171 @ ryecatcher:
Sine qua non – a Vital element OR something that is absolutely essential
What makes Willem Alberts a vital element, with his current form or lack of it??
Does the fact that he happens to be a Shark make him that vital??
ryecatcher wrote:
ad oculos Vermeulen, Burger, Flo, Marcel. Not so much Alberts for me personally.
As you say, the loose forward stocks ad abundantiam
🙂
@ ryecatcher:
On the Whitely issue.He has my full admiration for
the player and the human being that he is.
One reservation however.Whilst having by far the most tackles in the SR competition,do they have the ferocity to dislodge the ball?.My observation is that they are of the pussy cat variety.
To be fair.same question should be posed of Marcel.
I am a huge fan of MC.But then again also of SB
who unlike MC has developed an offloading skill.
Then again,MC is often ahead of his(Sharks) supporters,and has no option but to go to ground.
I can foresee a circular argument developing between me and myself,so “Goodnight all.”
173 @ Stormersboy:
Hellooo Stercus Caput!
Now those last 2 words are lekkerrrrr latin!
174 @ ryecatcher:
Are you going to EFUTUE now without the curtecy of a response to my question?
@ grootblousmile:
Dont make silly comments.I justified what I said.
I realise that you are THE WEB MASTER (caps intentional) and that you can ban me at your
pleasure/whim.
Do you require complete aquiescence with your every opinion?. A bunch of ja broers?The Sharks comment unbelievably
out of line and if you were attempting humour,you
failed dismally.
@ ryecatcher:
And are you man enough rto take criticism?
177 & 187 @ ryecatcher:
Tua esque, old man!
@ grootblousmile:
Isn,t WIKI grand?
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