New Tiger: Lote Tuqiri
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The Springboks could come up against a familiar and formidable foe when they face the Leicester Tigers in the opening match of their European tour at Welford Road on Friday.
Former Wallaby wing Lote Tuqiri, who joined the Premiership champions this week, has been included on the bench with coach Richard Cockerill apparently keen for him to get game time as quickly as possible.
The Tigers will be captained by former All Black Aaron Mauger, who will play at fly-half for the first time in several years. Another former All Black Scott Hamilton will play at full-back.
With a host of players on international duty and several more on the injury list, amongst them Harry Ellis, Toby Flood, Geordan Murphy and Billy Twelvetrees, the Tigers backline in particular has a new look about it.
Academy prospects Andy Forsyth and Manu Tuilagi are the new centre pair whilst Ben Youngs starts at scrum-half.
The pack is unchanged from the eight who started in last week's Premiership win over Northampton Saints, including young lock Calum Green who made his first senior start in that game.
Anthony Allen and Jeremy Staunton, who have started all nine games in league and cup so far this season, are being rested.
Springbok assistant coach Dick Muir says that despite not having many players available the Tigers have still managed to put together a strong team.
"The Tigers have great depth and that is evident in the selection," said Muir.
"They have gone for consistency up front and we will have to be prepared for a tough battle. The outcome of this match is going to be determined up front, especially since it is expected to be cold and wet on Friday night."
Muir said the fact that Mauger was playing at fly-half was significant.
"Mauger is a great player and they have obviously opted for his experience at 10 with Toby Flood injured. With a young centre pair they will be relying on Mauger to steady things, which is not unexpected."
Muir added that he was not surprised to see Tuqiri's name on the team list.
"Lote has not had much game time recently so we expected him to be in the 22," he said.
"He is a quality player and I am sure they will get him onto the park. We will have to keep a close eye on him because his strength and finishing power are well known."
Muir said he was happy with the Springboks' preparations for the match.
"We had a good session here yesterday and wrapped up with a captains run on Thursday," he added.
"The guys are raring to go because this is a big occasion for many of them. It's not only about guys making their Springbok debuts, but also about all of these players pushing for inclusion in the Test side. There is a lot to play for and I am confident the enthusiasm and eagerness will translate onto the pitch."
Leicester Tigers: 15 Scott Hamilton, 14 Lucas Amorosino, 13 Andy Forsyth, 12 Manu Tuilagi, 11 Johne Murphy, 10 Aaron Mauger (c), 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Brett Deacon, 7 Ben Pienaar, 6 Geoff Parling, 5 Ben Kay, 4 Calum Green, 3 Martin Castrogiovanni, 2 Mefin Davies, 1 Marcos Ayerza.
Replacements:16 George Chuter, 17 Dan Cole, 18 Tom Armes, 19 Dan Hemingway, 20 James Grindal, 21 Greig Tonks, 22 Lote Tuqiri.
Date: Friday, November 6
Kick-off: 19:45 GMT
Venue: Welford Road
Referee: Stuart Dickinson (Australia)
Assistant referees: Roy Maybank, Robin Goodliffe
Television match official: Andrew Turner, Graeme Hughes
Comments
Shannon says...
Dear, dear dear ... glad to see he finally found employment. Well done ol' boy. Thing is, the game
has changed a lot since he last played, bench is probably appropriate for the vintage stuff. No three
cheers for him I'm afraid, more like silent amusement at the three O's :
- O ver rated
- O ver paid and now finally
- O ver weight.
your victory starved union fans have turned their backs on you, League awaits you my friend.
Posted 22:58 05th November 2009