Called in: Schalk Brits
Related links
Teams
Also see
The Boks have named five uncapped players but will be without their all-time leading try-scorer, Bryan Habana, who is injured for November's Tests.
Habana was the latest key player to be added to a long injury list when he sustained a knee injury in the Currie Cup final. Scans confirmed he will miss the tour of Ireland, Scotland and England.
South Africa U20 winger Raymond Rhule, who was part of the squad that won the Junior World Championship in Cape Town earlier this year and who has shone for the Free State Cheetahs in the 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 scrum-half.
Two Springboks currently based in Europe, Schalk Brits and Gurthrö Steenkamp, have also been recalled to the national 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 Rugby Championship because of injury, Pietersen and Chiliboy Ralepelle, are back in the squad.
Bok 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.
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 Habana. Furthermore, Schalk Burger, Juan Smith and Heinrich Brüssow are still out.
"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 in Europe.
"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 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.
South Africa squad: Willem Alberts, Arno Botha, Schalk Brits, Pat Cilliers, Marcell Coetzee, Juan de Jongh, Jean de Villiers (captain), Jannie du Plessis, Eben Etzebeth, Francois Hougaard, Elton Jantjies, Zane Kirchner, Juandré Kruger, Pat Lambie, Francois Louw, Lionel Mapoe, Tendai Mtawarira, Lwazi Mvovo, Ruan Pienaar, JP Pietersen, Chiliboy Ralepelle, Raymond Rhule, Gurthrö Steenkamp, Morné Steyn, Adriaan Strauss, Jaco Taute, CJ van der Linde, Flip van der Merwe, Franco van der Merwe, Jano Vermaak, Duane Vermeulen.
Comments
GoWalesGo says...
philipjfry
Nah i think i'll stay.
It amuses me.
Posted 12:42 01st November 2012
philipjfry says...
@GoWalesGo: 'People moaning about their favourite players not being involved on a planet rugby forum, nothing new here there then...' OK, then f-k off somewhere else where things are to your liking you c-t.
Posted 23:25 31st October 2012
elmer says...
I too would have loved to have seen Fourie get a go as he can make an exciting impact. Gutted for Habana and i think we will miss him.
I am very excited about Brits though. I really hope he is used as he really can change a game .
Posted 16:33 30th October 2012
GoWalesGo says...
People moaning about their favourite players not being involved on a planet rugby forum, nothing new here there then...
Posted 15:07 30th October 2012
philipjfry says...
They can stick a competitive team on the pitch but the greater squad selections continue to baffle. I hope Hougaard gets another crack at scrum half; I'd like to see him play with a fly half that can attack from first phase ball. It still amazes me that Pienaar has amassed 50 odd caps considering his inconsistency.
All things considering I'd give the squad 2-2.5/5 and they may just scrape all three matches, but then again they could lose all three quite easily. I'm not very hopeful.
My fantasy team would be Beast, B. du Plessis, J. du Plessis, Etzebeth, Bekker, Burger, Louw, Kankowski, Hougaard, Lambie, Habana, JDV, JDJ, Pietersen, F. Steyn (minus the lard) with Burden, Oosthuizen, Bresler, Alberts, Sarel Pretorius, Goosen and Aplon on the bench. I'd also consider Kolisi,Deon Fourie, Daniel, Tim Whitehead, Taute and Willie le Roux at some stage.
But not Arno Botha, Mapoe, Pienaar, Franco v/ Merwe (wtf?) or Kirchner.
Posted 12:24 30th October 2012
Carpelone says...
Rolf
I agree with you on the centres.
Jaystarr
Maybe I was unlucky with Bekker, I have nothing against him and I hope he proves me wrong. Maybe we were a little spoiled with Matfield/Botha, one of the best pairing ever. My opinion is that Bekker is no Matfield, but I would be happy to be proved wrong.
Posted 10:24 30th October 2012
Carpelone says...
and we are not interested in Mujati as well, given the involvement of his family in some grim business going on in Zim.
Posted 10:11 30th October 2012
lyndonmac says...
Congrats to Jaystarr --- you picked the same team as I did --- and being a Kiwi, I'm going on exposed form, (super 15 as well as Test form) ,not provincial prejudice as so obviously displayed by the continued selection of second-rate Bulls players. Bekker ahead of Kruger a no-brainer, JP anywhere in the backs likewise, Lambie at no.10 an exciting possibility. Morne a past champ, probably not the future but good luck to him for lasting so long. I like JDV as a player and person, not as captain. I'd give it to Bekker --- reckon he'd thrive in the role, if he wants it.
Rugbyphile : A very interesting and intelligent question--- my answer comes from left field, but I think that SA goes too much for bulk and AUS too much for gym fitness. NZ forwards have generally been more injury-free because they are managed better, and given a rest for much of the S15 season. As for the backs --- we won the World Cup with our 4th-choice first-five after the first 3 were injured, so not sure why they got injured more than our forwards. Possibly because the big bruisers tackled the lighter-framed guys too hard?
Posted 07:48 30th October 2012
Carpelone says...
I would like to see JP Pietersen at 13, to see if he is Test material.
Could be one of the best 13 in business.
Posted 23:08 29th October 2012
rolf says...
i thought Mujati holds a ZIM Passport?
Deon Fourie was outstanding in the CC final, i would have aknowledged that.
And although i do like Juan de Jongh a lot, i think the centre pairing is the weakest part of the Boks now, has been for soem years and probably will remain for a while.
Anyway: I am looking forward for those games.
Posted 19:56 29th October 2012
JayStarr says...
@ ArmChairGeneral: For that exact reason you just gave...
@ Ramage: You are being suspiciously nice... What are you up to..? :p
@ themyth: Unlike some other countries, SA does not allow anybody who does not have a South African passport (and citizenship) to play for the Springboks anymore. That is why Beast Mtawarira (from Zimbabwe) was taken out of the Springbok team for a season... When Beast got his South African citizenship and passport he returned to the Springbok squad. Brian Mujati never got his and also has not shown any commitment to South Africa (I don't blame him, it's not his country - Zimbabwe is) - he wanted to go play overseas. It's been made clear to him that if he wants to play for the Springboks he will have to live (and of course play) in South Africa until he gets his citizenship, but he has not been interested, so that's just the way it is.
Posted 18:23 29th October 2012
APV1 says...
@ SACanuck - the other night on Rugby Club they were debating the B&I Lions tour and the question of captain came up. Three interesting, but contrasting views:
1. The captain should be in the backs. You will have a Pack Leader too, so you get the best of both worlds.
2. The captain should be the 7 (Saffa 6). The ref is less likely to send off the captain for illegal infringements.
3. (Lions Tour specific) There should be a Tour Captain and then a team captain picked on a match-by-match basis. That way the best person to gel the players from the four nations is the Tour captain, but they may not play every match. This is something I suggested some time ago on the Lions discussion board and think might work. In theory, I suppose, it could work for any touring party, especially if there are mid-week games (like when we came to visit you in SA), although it works particularly well for the Lions.
Food for thought...
Posted 17:25 29th October 2012
zambokke says...
@Themyth. Jannie is also in top form and a great prop, but it is a good idea to look at Mujati (another Zimbabwean like Beast?) as cover as just like Ruan Pienaar, Francois Louw and Schalk Brits, he now knows the conditions and most of the UK players. I never played in the forwards, but guess that the cold sticky UK mud is difficult and different to SA wet fields. Mujati is an interesting suggestion.
Posted 16:27 29th October 2012
themyth says...
I'm not trying to take anything away from Jannie du Plessis but I am shell shocked we keep ignoring Mujati currently playing the rugby of his life at Northampton Saints. The guy is part of arguably the best front row in the North. The guy has played for the Boks before and has been voted the second best player in the North he knows the British players and the playing conditions
Posted 14:29 29th October 2012
SACanuck says...
@APV1. Sure hope not with Smit LOL, but then again I think the captain needs to be in the pack, but no one currently playing in there is right for the job. It sure is a problem. Personally I am a Keegan fan for captain, but he is not a HM man.
Posted 14:11 29th October 2012
Ramage says...
I see ng the conditioning Mr Meyer is true to his word and despite scouring the side named I still cant find Greyling named in the squad. This despite all the injuries.
@ rugbyphile regarding the conditioning and injuries that the Boks and Wallabies have compared to the All Blacks I too would be interested to know but somehow Im sure Mr Hansen will not elaborate for you and neither can I.
Finally to all Saffas can I wish your team all the best in your tour to the NH I will be watching as many of your games as I can and seeing how well you perform. Just please dont drop any of the games you are playing this year
Posted 13:19 29th October 2012
snoekie1959 says...
How Deon Fourie could be overlooked is mind boggling. He alone won numerous turnovers and penalties for WP due to his body positioning at the rucks. A real shame, HM.
Posted 12:07 29th October 2012
JayStarr says...
@ ben7: Seems like we agree, with only no.5 lock being an exception - why do you think Juandré Kruger is better than Andries Bekker?
@ boksmashoffice: Agree on everything !
@ Carpelone: Willie le Roux is not injured, just not HM's idea of a fullback - just like Gio Aplon, Joe Pietersen and Jaco Taute isn't either... He doesn't seem to want any creativity from his fullback. Or fly-half for that matter... As for Pienaar, I think he is the best option for this tour - even you are admitting he played well in Ireland. Bekker is also the best no.5 we have right now. He was poor in that one test, but he was carrying an injury. HM should learn not to play players who are carrying injuries - it seems to be a habit of his. Bekker is excellent in the line-outs, on defense and with ball-in-hand when he is fit - much better than any other no.5 we have right now. The Boks do lack some leadership, but with an retirement and injury list like that it is to be expected... Nothing anyone can do about that.
Posted 11:40 29th October 2012
APV1 says...
@ SACanuck - the captaincy is very imprtant. Will he recall Jon Smit, do you think..?
Posted 11:30 29th October 2012
ArmchairGeneral says...
Brits is a winner and turns games...why put him on bench?
Posted 09:00 29th October 2012