Strauss shocked by Bok call

Adriaan Strauss has admitted his call-up to the Springboks for their final Tri-Nations tour fixture against Australia on Saturday at the Subiaco Oval in Perth came out of the blue.

Adriaan Strauss has admitted his call-up to the Springboks for their final Tri-Nations tour fixture against Australia on Saturday at the Subiaco Oval in Perth came out of the blue.

The 22-year-old Cheetahs hooker will arrive in Perth on Tuesday as a replacement for the suspended Bismarck du Plessis.

Du Plessis was been banned for three weeks following a SANZAR judicial hearing in Dunedin after being cited after Saturday's 30-28 victory over New Zealand at Carisbrook for coming into “contact with the eyes or eye area” of All Blacks flanker Adam Thomson.

Strauss, who has represented SA Schools and SA Under-21s, will probably have to settle for a place on the bench for the Boks this weekend, but is determined to make the most of his opportunity.

“I watched the game at the [Cheetahs'] hotel yesterday and I had no idea that I would be flying out this soon. I heard about Bismarck, but I didn't think I would be in the running to go,” said Strauss.

“It's an opportunity, and right now I'm telling myself to go and enjoy it, and not to want more.

“But I'd love to get onto the field and play and get a taste of Test rugby. Still I'd be more than happy just to be in Perth right now.

“Juan [Smith] and I spoke this morning and Victor Matfield was in the background and the guys were excited for me and said I needed to get over here.

“It'll be nice, as I played with Victor and Bakkies Botha at the Bulls a few years back and it will be great to link up with them again.”

Du Plessis's ban will run up to and including August 3, meaning the hooker will miss the clash with Australia in Perth, but will be available again for the match against Argentina in Johannesburg on August 9.

At the hearing in front of SANZAR judicial officer Kim Garling, Du Plessis acknowledged his fist had come into contact with Thomson's lower cheek and that his left hand knuckle appeared to come into contact with the face near the eye area but not his eye.

Garling accepted this and concluded that the contact was careless and not deliberate but added that “any action by a player in which fingers, a hand, or a knuckle comes into contact with the eye or eye area of a player is very serious”.

Du Plessis's suspension has been compounded by the news Springbok captain John Smit will miss the rest of the Tri-Nations with a groin injury.

Smit returned home early from his side's double-header in New Zealand, having sustained the injury during the Springboks 19-8 loss in Wellington last weekend.

And he will now miss the remainder of the competition as well after undergoing surgery.

South Africa Rugby revealed no date has yet been set for Smit's return.

Despite being hit by a double setback, Matfield insisted the narrow win over New Zealand would sharpen the side's focus as they chased their first Tri-Nations title since 2004 on the back of their World Cup success.

Saturday's win ended a 10-year drought on New Zealand soil for the Springboks, and was their first in Carisbrook's “House of Pain” since 1921.

Matfield, who took over as captain when Smit departed the tour early, said: “We are very proud of the World Cup last year. But like I said this week, we will be world champs for the next four years.

“That is a competition that is in the past and we need to focus on winning this Tri-Nations.

“We are very glad winning this game because it kept us in the Tri-Nations and all our focus at this moment is on winning the Tri-Nations and from here we can take it forward.

“We need to focus on the next game which is against Australia next week. It's going to be just as hard and there will be different challenges and we have to sit down and work out our plan.”

Springboks coach Peter de Villiers had a difficult build-up to the match with critics questioning his credentials as a coach.

But he did not feel the need to gloat after their nail-biting victory.

“I've got nothing to prove,” he said. “If I believe in myself, if I believe in my players, if I believe in my god, then I don't need people around me.

“Everyone has an opinion and we respect their opinions but it doesn't mean we agree with their opinion.

“If we can stand up like we did today as a group people will change their opinions.”