Boks name RWC hopefuls
20 Jun 2011
The Springboks have named six uncapped players in a preliminary Springbok World Cup squad of 49.
Ireland-based BJ Botha and Johann Muller were also notable names. Botha, Muller, Bjorn Basson, Dean Greyling, Alistair Hargreaves, Adi Jacobs, Elton Jantjies, Ricky Januarie, Ryan Kankowski, Zane Kirchner, Francois Louw and Deon Stegmann were omissions from a World Cup planning camp held in Durban recently, but they have now been included in the wider squad.
Zimbabwe-born Brian Mujati is absent as SA Rugby continue to wait for the paperwork that confirms his citizenship to be processed.
Overall the squad contains 21 World Cup winners from 2007. In a press statement, the South African Rugby Union said the list is not definitive and the final squad can include players from outside the initial group.
Springbok coach Peter de Villiers said: ‘We have got a good blend of youth and experience as well as including some uncapped players who have forced their way into contention for selection with their performances in Super Rugby.
‘Our Tri-Nations squad will be drawn from this group once we have been able to sort out those players who are carrying injuries at the end of the Super Rugby competition.’
The Springboks’ Tri-Nations squad will be named on July 2 or 9 (depending on South African involvement in the Super Rugby final), with the final 30-man World Cup group announced on 23 August.
Preliminary Springbok World Cup squad: Bok planning squad: John Smit (c), Victor Matfield (v/c), Willem Alberts, Gio Aplon, Andries Bekker, Bjorn Basson, Bakkies Botha, BJ Botha, Heinrich Brüssow, Schalk Burger, Juan de Jongh, Jean de Villiers, Bismarck du Plessis, Jannie du Plessis, Fourie du Preez, Jaque Fourie, Dean Greyling, Bryan Habana, Alistair Hargreaves, Francois Hougaard, Adi Jacobs, Butch James, Elton Jantjies, Ricky Januarie, Ashley Johnson, Ryan Kankowski, Zane Kirchner, Werner Kruger, Pat Lambie, Francois Louw, Tendai Mtawarira, Johann Muller, Lwazi Mvovo, Odwa Ndungane, Wynand Olivier, Coenie Oosthuizen, Ruan Pienaar, JP Pietersen, Chiliboy Ralepelle, Danie Rossouw, Juan Smith, Pierre Spies, Gurthrö Steenkamp, Deon Stegmann, Francois Steyn, Morné Steyn, Adriaan Strauss, Flip van der Merwe, Duane Vermeulen
454 Comments
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21 Jun 2011, 12:21 pm
In 95 Boks took out 91 champs in opening game with their dwindling stars, Campese, Horan, Little, Farr Jones, Lynagh, Eales etc. not cutting the mustard, the wheel had turned past the 180 degrees and what was top price in 91 was old hat by 95, in 2007 England were in same position, Boks took them out in pools and went on to duplicate the feat in the final.
So what is the lesson from here.
In 2007 Boks actual strengths were the inclusion of players at age 20-24
Steyn, Fourie, JPP, Habana, FdP etc.
The stalwarts of 2007 were actually Streauli’s team from 2003, Smit, Os, CJ, Botha, Matfield, Smith, Burger, Roussouw, JdV, Montgomery all played for Streauli in 2003 and Monty, Os and JdV for Carel, Mallet or even Kitch and Viljoen before 2003
We going with self same team to large extent as Streauli and White put together from 8 years ago.
Smit, Matfield, Botha, Smith, Burger and JdV are carrying 8-10 years of international competition in their legs and their psyches. By all means have some experience, but if you think Streauli and Whites players are going to bring home the bacon same as England did in 2007 or Australia did in 95, then you better start thinking again.
the reason Boks were successful in 2007 was due to new blood in Steyn, Habana, Pietersen, Fourie, FdP and also due to a shift in mindset brought about through psyche differential by Eddie Jones, that is what braught Boks through, not the old hands from Streauli’s era but the new players and new thinking brought in by Jones.
Now we going with hardly any new blood at all, and still carrying the bulk of Streauli’s team as our vanguard of experience. If not for Jones, Steyn, Habana, Pietersen, Fourie and FdP in 2007 and the fact that we only played 6th and 7th rank teams to clinch the entire comp, elese we would not have sufficed. Now we trying to peel the same apple twice with the same players from 8-10 years ago without the advanced thinking of a Jones, who without which White would have not played Steyn at 12 or switched his one dimensional thinking around.
Bryce the Smchyce can adulate all he likes about his fake hero Jake White, who needed Eddy and France’s antic in cardiff to see him through and who like himself has now gone to Arsetralia to further his career cause nobody wants or needs him here. Fact is Jakes players in the majority are stretching the envelope beyond break point and none more so than Smit, Botha, and Smith and Burger in tow.
21 Jun 2011, 22:48 pm
What brought the 2007 RWC win was the amazingly LUCKY BREAK that other teams had miraculously rolled both the Oz and NZ boulders out of their way for them.
(NZ had beaten them both home and away in that year’s 3N and the Wallabies had beaten them in Oz.)
23 Jun 2011, 11:38 am
Spot on 451.ashampoopaloo
24 Jun 2011, 12:34 pm
Hey Tackler (451) , you also forget that the 3N teams and the RWC teams were different folks playing for different stakes. Best you (again) remind the AB’s of that…. Cometh the hour….
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