Heinrich Brüssow
The Springbok team to face New Zealand’s All Blacks for the 90th time shows 9 changes to the match-23 which did duty against Australia’s Wallabies, for the 2nd match in the condensed Castle Lager Rugby Championship, at Emirates Airline Park in Johannesburg on Saturday.
Heinrich Brüssow will make his 1st start for the Springboks since the 2011 Rugby World Cup, while Vincent Koch has been included on the bench for what could be his Test debut for South Africa.
JP Pietersen, who was initially picked on the right wing, has since starined his hamstring in training and is replaced on right wing by Cornal Hendricks, with Lionel Mapoe replacing Cornal Hendricks’ place on the bench.
Of the 9 changes, 3 are to the pack, 1 to the backline and 5 are on the bench. The backline is unchanged. Schalk Burger will captain the team from No 8.
Francois Louw will start in the No 7 jersey for the injured Marcell Coetzee in a positional change, with Heinrich Brüssow assuming the openside role (No 6). The only other changes to the starting line-up is at lock, where Lood de Jager takes over from Victor Matfield and on right wing where Cornal Hendricks will do duty.
On the bench, Vincent Koch will be joined by Lionel Mapoe, Trevor Nyakane, Flip van der Merwe and Warren Whiteley, who could make his 1st Test appearance in South Africa, in front of his home crowd in Johannesburg.
“Injuries have forced our hand a bit, but we’ve stuck with our planned rotational policy on the bench and it will be great to see what Heinrich, Vincent and Flip can do,” said Meyer.
“The breakdown battle will again be huge and it will be good to see Heinrich and Francois play together. They are versatile players and I am convinced they will combine perfectly.
“Heinrich has been great this season before he got injured and played his way into contention. As with other players returning from injury in Vodacom Super Rugby, he deserves an opportunity. We decided it was better to start with him and use Warren as an impact player later in the match.
“It’s also great to see Flip back in the fold. We had a look at Pieter-Steph du Toit but he is not yet 100% match-ready, and Franco Mostert was also discussed but in the end we decided to go with Flip as he will add valuable experience to our bench.
“We planned to bring Trevor, Warren and Cornal back for this match. Trevor and Warren have been playing great rugby this season and Cornal is a superb finisher, as he’s shown so often last year.”
Pietersen strained his hamstring at Wednesday’s training session at St Peter’s College and will not be available to face the All Blacks. As a result, Cornal Hendricks will start at right wing, with Mapoe coming onto the bench.
“It’s a huge setback to lose JP for a big match such as this one as he has been in good form and brings valuable experience to our backline, but Cornal played against the All Blacks last year, scored a brilliant try in Wellington and is raring to go,” said Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer.
“Lionel was not available for selection because of injury when we got together as a squad a few weeks ago and Jesse Kriel grabbed his opportunity with both hands. That is why I am delighted that Lionel is now getting his chance.
“We had a number of options on the bench, but decided on Lionel as he covers wing and outside centre, which is what we had in JP.”
Meyer said that the Springboks faced a huge challenge on Saturday as they continue to build towards the Rugby World Cup against a fired-up Kiwi side.
“This will be a massive Test – every match against the All Blacks is,” said Meyer.
“We played some great rugby last weekend, but this week we have to put in an 80-minute effort. We have to be especially focused in the last 10 minutes, because New Zealand always finish strongly. They travelled here with us so that negates any advantage we could’ve had at the end of the match.
“The challenge will also be to make a step up in vital areas of the game and get back on the winning track. By not making too many changes this week, we’re giving some combinations the opportunity to settle a bit more. Our youngsters will have to put up their hands on Saturday – I would not have selected them if I didn’t believe they can do the job.”
Springbok Team (Test Caps & Test Points Scored in Brackets):
15 Willie le Roux – Toyota Cheetahs (26, 35)
14 Cornal Hendricks – Toyota Cheetahs (11, 25)
13 Jesse Kriel – Vodacom Bulls (1, 5)
12 Damian de Allende – DHL Stormers (4, 0)
11 Bryan Habana – Toulon (107, 285)
10 Handré Pollard – Vodacom Bulls (10, 75)
9 Ruan Pienaar (Vice-captain) – Ulster (81, 135)
8 Schalk Burger (Captain) – DHL Stormers (76, 70)
7 Francois Louw – Bath (35, 25)
6 Heinrich Brüssow – Toyota Cheetahs (20, 5)
5 Lood de Jager – Toyota Cheetahs (10, 10)
4 Eben Etzebeth – DHL Stormers (34, 5)
3 Jannie du Plessis – Cell C Sharks (63, 5)
2 Bismarck du Plessis – Cell C Sharks (71, 45)
1 Tendai Mtawarira – Cell C Sharks (65, 10)
Replacements:
16 Adriaan Strauss – Vodacom Bulls (45, 25)
17 Trevor Nyakane – Vodacom Bulls (12,, 5)
18 Vincent Koch – DHL Stormers (0, 0)
19 Flip van der Merwe – Vodacom Bulls (35, 5)
20 Warren Whiteley – Emirates Lions (2, 0)
21 Cobus Reinach – Cell C Sharks (7, 10)
22 Pat Lambie – Cell C Sharks (41, 106)
23 Lionel Mapoe – Emirates Lions (0, 0)
Stats and facts:
- The Springbok starting team boasts a total of 614 Test caps (240 in the backline and 374 in the forwards), while there are a further 142 caps worth of experience on the bench.
- South Africa and New Zealand have played each other 89 times since 1921, with the Springboks winning 35, losing 51 and three were drawn. The Springboks have scored 1,392 points and 137 tries and conceded 1,718 points and 177 tries for an average score of 16-19.
- South Africa and New Zealand last met on 4 October 2015 at Emirates Airline Park in Johannesburg. The Springboks beat New Zealand by 27-25 thanks to a late 55 metre penalty from the boot of replacement flyhalf Patrick Lambie.
- Schalk Burger will become South Africa’s 55th Springbok captain in history.
- Bryan Habana will extend his own record as the most-capped Springbok wing, with 106 caps in this position. If he scores a try he will extend his own record of 57 Test tries for South Africa as well as most Test tries against New Zealand (7) and the Castle Lager Rugby Championship record of 18 tries.
- If he scores a try, Bismarck du Plessis will extend his record of nine Test tries for South Africa as a hooker. He will also extend his SA record of 40 Tests (22 in the starting line-up) with his brother Jannie and 17 Tests with Jannie and Tendai Mtawarira as the starting front row pairing for SA.
- If they goes on, Vincent Koch and / or Lionel Mapoewill become Springbok #868 in history and the other will become #869.
- It will be Heyneke Meyer’s 39th Test in charge of the Springboks since he took over in 2012. Of the previous 38 Tests South Africa have won 26, lost ten and drew twice. He is 3rd now on the all-time list with only Peter de Villiers (48) and Jake White (54) in front of him.
- The referee is Jerome Garces of France. It will be his 5th Test involving South Africa. Of the previous 4 South Africa have won 3 and lost 1. His last appearance was in November 2014 against Italy in Padova when the Boks won 22 / 6.
Springbok Test match records at Emirates Airline Park (Ellis Park) in Johannesburg:
- Most points: 28 by Gavin Johnson (3t, 5c,1p) against Samoa on 13 April, 1995
- Most tries: 4 by Chester Williams against Samoa on 10 June, 1995 and by Jongi Nokwe against Australia on 30 August, 2008
- Most conversions: 9 by Butch James against Argentina on 9 August, 2008
- Most penalty goals: 6 by Percy Montgomery against France on 16 June, 2001 and by Louis Koen against Scotland on 14 June, 2003
- Most drop goals: 2 by Joel Stransky against New Zealand on 24 June, 1995 and by Jannie de Beer against New Zealand on 19 July, 1997
Date: Saturday 25 July
Venue: Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg
Kick-Off: 17:05 SA Time (15:05 GMT, Sunday 03:05 NZ Time)
Referee: Jérôme Garcès (France)
Assistant Referees: Romain Poite (France), Leighton Hodges (Wales)
TMO: Graham Hughes (England)
Interesting side…
Generally happy, considering the unavailable & injured players.
Now if only Jaco kriel had been in the bigger Springbok group… eishhhh.
JP Pietersen still does not justify his place on the wing, with his poor form in 2015 (specially on defence) and he will probably be up against Julian Savea of the All Blacks (Savea will most likely get the Left Wing spot)…. so I see at least 2 All Blacks tries out wide on Pietersen’s side of the field.
1 @ grootblousmile:
Unfortunately I think it will be VERY difficult for SA to win this game.
2 @ Scrumdown:
Yeah… Springboks are on a low because all SA Rugby is on a low at the moment, whereas all New Zealand Rugby is at a peak at the moment.
Like you say, difficult to see the Bokke win this one… but the ball is still not round and can bounce funny on a day.
One thing which desperately troubles me is all South African player conditioning. We saw how many times in Super Rugby that the Aussie & New Zealand players just appeared more fit and conditioned (Emirates Lions were the lone SA shining light in the fitness & conditioning stakes).
Also the same with the Springboks, for years now (and it stems from before Heyneke Meyer’s time) the All Blacks and now also the Wallabies manage these come-from-behind wins… indicating that they have more oomph left towards the end of Tests.
Like I said though, Heyneke & the Bokke staff inherit these unconditioned players and pre-season there simply is not enough time to up the conditioning sufficiently.
Hope Heyneke, Van Graan & the Bokke conditioning staff are working extremely hard to up the overall Bokke conditioning prior to the Rugby World Cup, because that is the only logical solution to stand a chance of winning THAT tournament… got to be fitter than the opposition…. got to be!
@ grootblousmile:
Which is really bad. Surely the SR franchises want their players to be as fit as possible? Being fit reduces the chance of injury, especially soft tissue injury, like pulled muscles etc.
Superior fitness allows teams to have high tackle rates and still have enough in the tank for those famous comeback wins.
4 @ Lion4ever:
Of course I agree with you fullheartedly!
You also work for yourself, like me… and the 1 thing I always need to guard against is getting too bloody frustrated when the obvious stares us all in the face and nothing is done to correct it.
I suppose the same applies to you.
My whole body shouts to climb in and fix it… because that’s what I do… I fix things that have gone pear or I create new solutions to existing problems.
But, of course standing way out on the side, where I am just a spectator in the perpetuation of the same errors… I can do nothing about it but shout about it, leaving the frustration unsatisfied!
It is a glaring shortcoming all of SA Rugby needs to address… and at least the Lions have already done so.
But SA Super Rugby sides as well as our Springbok team will never be the No 1 side in the world until things like these, inter alia, are addressed, post haste.
JP Pietersen
18 tries from 60 tests, most of those playing wing.
That’s a very poor return compared to most world class wings, I wouldn’t be surprised if Savea has scored more in probably a third of those amount of tests
News just in:
JP Pietersen strained a hamstring this afternoon at training and will miss the All Blacks game!
Cornal Hendricks replaces JP Pietersen on the wing and Lionel Mapoe takes Cornal Hendricks’ place on the bench! I have already changed the article accordingly!
BIGGGGG plus that JP Pietersen is out injured… not that Cornal Hendricks is the best defender out there!
grootblousmile wrote:
One of the worst
9 @ MacroPolo:
But at least a step towards the right direction!
@ grootblousmile:
Im not too convinced about cornal, as crap as jpp has been at 1e this season he did his selection justice, would have prefered mapoe getting straight into the starting team for savea.
11 @ MacroPolo:
Yeah… but then again Mapoe played No 13 all season and has not played wing in a while.
But you are right, Mapoe is much more solid on defence than either Pietersen or Hendricks.
@ MacroPolo:
De Allende moet maar help tekkel aan die buitekant.
Beste verdediger sit innie Kaap, Kobus van Wyk.
13 @ Pietman:
Of Francois Hougaard op Regtervleuel…. hy is solid op verdediging
@ Pietman:
Ek se nou al lank ek sal nie omgee om de allende op vlueel te he nie, maar sy verdediging was ook maar partymal hit-or-miss in SR gewees.
maar van de allende se beter aanvallende lopies die jaar was teen die linkerkant kantlyn gewees, in NZ so daai ou maklik op vlueel speel, maar in SA moet hy maar 12 speel anders kry hy nooit die bal nie… maar dan kry die vlueels nie bal nie.
@ grootblousmile:
@ MacroPolo:
Hougie ok daar, ja.
Maar ons kruisvedediging is kookwater, met Schalla en kie…ook Lood en Eben, as hulle speel soos verlede week.
15 & 16 @ MacroPolo:
As Jean de Villiers eers terug is, sou jy vir Jean op Nr 12 sit, Jesse Kriel op Nr 13 en Damian de Allende op Nr 14?
Kan miskien flippen goed so werk!
17 @ Pietman:
Hoop dit hou so vir 85 minute!
Ek sien Jake het al weer sy bek uit te spoel oor hoekom hy so baie Suid-Afrikaners gekoop het vir Montpellier… met die feebleste verskonings denkbaar.
Ek gaan nie eers moeite doen om so artikel op te sit nie.
@ grootblousmile:
Janee, asseblief, niks meer oor Jake…en ook nie oor Cheeky…hulle maak net man se moer suur.
21 @ Pietman:
Hehehehe
Moegoes… beide van hulle!
21 @ Pietman:
Ek is nogal verbaas dat die All Blacks span nie ook vandag bekendgemaak is nie.
Ons kan seker ‘n All Black agterlyn verwag van: 9 Aaron Smith, 10 Beauden Barrett, 11 Julian Savea, 12 Ma’a Nonu, 13 Conrad Smith, 14 Ben Smith, 15 Israel Dagg… of 14 Charles Piutau & 15 Ben Smith.
Barrett en Pollard jol nou al vanaf Jnr Wereldbeker teen mekaar, tyd dat Pollie hom weer n slag ore aansit soos in hul junior dae….die klong skuld ons n grote, hy wat Pollard is.
Jy kan nie so kuk pale toe skop in toetsrugby soos hy die laaste tyd nie…
@ Pietman: naand Piet. Hows the desert? Been to the Rift Valley to put a chop on a braai yet?
@ Pietman:
Ek drink nou my laaste dop in Addis, vlieg more terug Stofbakkies toe om my joppie te gaan klaarmaak, en dan hopelik n maand later af Goose toe.
GT vanaand terug, oppad Kaap toe.
Ek praat weer later met julle ouens, by die toets.
Gooi mielies bruvva!
24 @ Pietman:
Ja… gelukkig sovêr is dit asof die groter druk van die battle teen die All Blacks vir Pollard aangevuur het… hoop hy is Saterdag weer so skerp.
26 @ Pietman:
Tjorts Pieta!
@ Tassies:
Yes, returned from Nazareth this morning! Check this, I bought 5l bokswyn there, Drostdyhof Claret Select! Pork chops the size if 500gm Tbones! No, was a lekka trip bru, I will come again.
Some very interesting selections for the AB side, brand new 10, Dagg at 15, strong bench & two ball playing locks.
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