Bok squad announced

Habana was the latest key player to be added to a long injury list when he sustained a knee injury in Saturday’s Absa Currie Cup final. Scans on Sunday confirmed he will miss the tour of Ireland, Scotland and England.

South Africa Under-20 winger Raymond Rhule, who was part of the squad that won the IRB Junior World Championship in Cape Town earlier this year and who has shone for the Toyota Free State Cheetahs in the Absa 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 scrumhalf.

Two Springboks currently based in Europe, Schalk Brits (hooker) and Gurthrö Steenkamp (loosehead prop), 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.

A total of five uncapped players were included in the squad. They are Rhule, Mapoe, Arno Botha (loose forward), Franco van der Merwe (lock) and Jano Vermaak (scrumhalf). 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.

Two Springboks who missed the entire Castle Rugby Championship because of injury, Pietersen and Chiliboy Ralepelle, are back in the squad.

Springbok 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 due to injury.

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 injured.

“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: “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 Rugby 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.

The Springbok squad for the Castle Outgoing Tour to Ireland, Scotland and England:

Willem Alberts The Sharks Loose forward 17 Tests
Arno Botha Vodacom Blue Bulls Loose forward 0
Schalk Brits Saracens, England Hooker 3
Pat Cilliers MTN Golden Lions Prop 3
Marcell Coetzee The Sharks Loose forward 9
Juan de Jongh DHL Western Province Centre 12
Jean de Villiers (captain) DHL Western Province Centre 81
Jannie du Plessis The Sharks Prop 39
Eben Etzebeth DHL Western Province Lock 8
Francois Hougaard Vodacom Blue Bulls Scrumhalf / Wing 24
Elton Jantjies MTN Golden Lions Flyhalf 2
Zane Kirchner Vodacom Blue Bulls Fullback 21
Juandré Kruger Vodacom Blue Bulls Lock 5
Pat Lambie The Sharks Fullback 17
Francois Louw Bath, England Loose forward 14
Lionel Mapoe MTN Golden Lions Wing / Centre 0
Tendai Mtawarira The Sharks Prop 41
Lwazi Mvovo The Sharks Wing 7
Ruan Pienaar Ulster, N Ireland Scrumhalf 60
JP Pietersen The Sharks Wing / Centre 45
Chiliboy Ralepelle Vodacom Blue Bulls Hooker 21
Raymond Rhule Toyota FS Cheetahs Wing 0
Gurthrö Steenkamp Toulouse, France Prop 38
Morné Steyn Vodacom Blue Bulls Flyhalf 41
Adriaan Strauss Toyota FS Cheetahs Hooker 18
Jaco Taute MTN Golden Lions Utility back 2
CJ van der Linde MTN Golden Lions Prop 73
Flip van der Merwe Vodacom Blue Bulls Lock 20
Franco van der Merwe MTN Golden Lions Lock 0
Jano Vermaak Vodacom Blue Bulls Scrumhalf 0
Duane Vermeulen DHL Western Province No 8 4

Not sure why Jean de Villiers and CJ v d Linde is there, let alone Morne Steyn.

The rest are all relatively inexperiienced compared to those three.

Might as well let all the newbies play.

Pretty happy with that.

Morne is there for wet weather kicking days and CJ to cover both sides of the scrum.

Brits could be the pick of the squad. Think he'll be an amazing super sub with 20 to go.

Looks like a very strong squad is being assembled by Meyer. Come 2015 Boks will be in a great position.

Good looking squad. Other countries can only look on enviously as SA, despite an injury toll, can still field a top class squad.

Piennar will be a critical player in the Irish test - the perfect Trojan horse.

It all depends on where Meyer see his selections will take him though, will he have belief in the youngsters or will he go back to Morne Steyn.

With Goosen, Habana and Frans Steyn injured, now is the time to put all the youngsters in, regalrdless of the results.

De Villiers and Morne Steyn will not take this backline anywhere.

As predicted the man is back the only experienced 10 at test level in the Squad,be honest Biltong.Would you rather play him and maybe win all 4 or not and lose all 4.Meyer wants to keep his job the 4Ns he`s underachieved and the England tests wern`t all that convincing.In winter conditions keeping the ball in front of the forwards may be the way to go.IF he throws caution to the wind plays an exciting young backline and the y lose heavily the press will be baying for his head.I would love to see a Hougaard /Lambie 9/10 leading the Bok line but don`t think it will happen.leopards don`t change there spots.

Alan, why would the win be more secured playing Morne Steyn?

His only strength has been his goal kicking in the past.

lambie kicked 6/6 last night in the final, he got two man of the match performances in the last three games.

For what logical reason should Steyn be the 10?

None, or except maybe a deathwish.

It is just a thought but is the inclusion in the Bok squad of Britts and Penar out of desperation, injuries. or is it to give insight on ther Nh Teams to the Bok coaching staff?

Probably a bit of both.

At scrumhalf we really don't have any experienced player apart from Pienaar. the same at prop and hooker.

Our stocks in the front row is low on experience except for Beast and Jannie, looking at the inclusion of CJ v d Linde proves it.

The props that has been tested this season has been very poor, Greyling and Werner Kruger are not up to stansard and with Coenie Oosthuizen also out, Meyer had to call up Gurthro Steenkamp and V d Linde.

To be honest I am surprised he called up Brits, we have Burden and Chiliboy allready.

Biltong wrote:

To be honest I am surprised he called up Brits, we have Burden and Chiliboy allready.

Don't know burden, but Chiliboy is quite possible the worst hooker I have ever seen wearing an international shirt. (And I am old enough to have seen Ciaran Fitzgerald)

I don't disagree, but Craig Burden is a similar size and style of player as Brits, so it is a bit of a surprise.

What about the JWC player of the year, Serfontaine (spell?)?

Biltong of course there is no certainty that You`d win starting Morne Steyn at 10.BUT Jantjes is very inexperienced and he seems to want to play Lambie everywhere but 10 for some reason.

I was at the CC game this weekend and Lambie did look really good in the 10 shirt. The Sharks had some fancy (or it looked fancy from my seat) backline moves, but they didn't really get over the advantage line, except for those two breaks.

I still don't think Lambie is our answer at 15, HM should play him at 10 or not at all in my opinion. This is/will be turning into a Ruan Piennaar situation again.

Apparantly Francois Louw is injured, does anyone know the extent of his injuries?

That now makes the list of backrowers injured Juan Smith, Schalk Burger, Pierre Spies, Heinrich Brussow, Francois Louw, Jaques Potgieter to half a dozen.

This is seriously testing our depth.

Ontop of that we get JP Pietersen back and lose Habana and Frans Steyn.

I reckon we might be in for a tough time up north.

Biltong wrote:Probably a bit of both.

At scrumhalf we really don't have any experienced player apart from Pienaar. the same at prop and hooker.

Our stocks in the front row is low on experience except for Beast and Jannie, looking at the inclusion of CJ v d Linde proves it.

The props that has been tested this season has been very poor, Greyling and Werner Kruger are not up to stansard and with Coenie Oosthuizen also out, Meyer had to call up Gurthro Steenkamp and V d Linde.

To be honest I am surprised he called up Brits, we have Burden and Chiliboy allready.

If I had my way you could keep your Chillboy and whoever the other bloke is. I don't want Brits in the SA squad. South Africa have no respect for Brits. You'll probably just leave Brits out of the 23 which is a shame.

I think you ae overstating a bit the fact that South Africa don't respect Brits.

It is more a case of coaches in the past didn't rate him to be big enough, strong enough, or the fact that he plays overseas.

The coaches still don't rate him. He's only in the squad because of injuries surely?

He scrummages well enough, his throwing in the lineout is very good but it's his all round efforts around the park that make him so formidable. He is a special player who creates chances for others. Yet again he did it vs Saints as he did vs Racing Metro and Edinburgh etc.

Biltong, do you expect SA to beat Ireland?

I'll tell you when the matchday 22 is selected.

Good news!

http://www.supersport.com/rugby/springboks/news/121031/Lambie_to_get_his_chance_at_pivot

Happy with that and the decision to keep Taute at his preferred 15

Great news indeed MMaaxx, thanks for the link.