Habana out as Boks pick Brits
28 Oct 2012
Bryan Habana will miss the Springboks’ European tour but the selectors were bold in their selection of dynamic hooker Schalk Brits.
Habana has been in impressive form of late and his absence, as a result of a knee injury sustained in Saturday’s Currie Cup final, is a hammer blow. His unavailability opens the door for young Cheetahs winger Raymond Rhule, 19, who announced himself as a fine prospect with a series of strong performances in their domestic campaign.
Brits has consistently been among the best hookers in Europe since his move to London-based Saracens, but his claims have consistently been overlooked by the national selectors over the last three seasons. He has, however, made the cut as one of three hookers. With Adriaan Strauss expected to start, Brits will battle Chiliboy Ralepelle for the bench spot.
There is also a spot for Toulouse prop Gurthro Steenkamp, who had a strong first season for the French giants. He comes into the squad as loosehead cover in light of an injury to Coenie Oosthuizen.
Wing JP Pietersen returns to the squad after missing the Rugby Championship through injury and is one of five options in the position. Uncapped players Jano Vermaak, Franco van der Merwe, Lionel Mapoe and Arno Botha also make the cut.
The Springboks have an extensive injury list which has compromised the strength of the squad. Those who would have been considered but are sidelined are: 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 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 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 Baby 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’s team face Ireland on 10 November, Scotland on 17 November and England on 24 November, and the coach predicted a testing tour.
‘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.’
Springbok squad – Willem Alberts, Arno Botha, Schalk Brits, Pat Cilliers, Marcell Coetzee, Juan de Jongh, Jean de Villiers (c), Jannie du Plessis, Eben Etzebeth, Francois Hougaard, Elton Jantjies, Zane Kirchner, Juandré Kruger, Pat Lambie, Francois Louw, Lionel Mapoe, Beast 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.
317 Comments
Pages: « 1 2 3 4 5 6 [7] Show All
28 Oct 2012, 22:34 pm
@Hurricane-299:
both.
poms especially but now it seems the rest of uk is getting in on the act.
the problem for us is keeping guys interested once they know they are not in the springbok frame. it seems once the gys with enough talent to make an english or irish side but perhaps just not enough, or at least are up against others with the same amount of talent, to make the springbok side, then they bail for the pounds because there is little left to draw them in.
28 Oct 2012, 22:59 pm
journos still hounding heyneke over lambie
http://m.news24.com/sport24/Rugby/Springboks/Lambie-still-to-get-splinters-20121028
28 Oct 2012, 23:15 pm
Am I the only one who doesnt really rate Chilliboy??
The guy keeps throwing skew lineouts to the opposition.
Schalk Brits is by faaaaar the better option in my opinion.
29 Oct 2012, 00:50 am
@Kaizan-303:
And so is Fourie. Way better than Chiliboy
29 Oct 2012, 01:15 am
What happened to Frans Steyn?
29 Oct 2012, 01:33 am
frans – ankle surgery
29 Oct 2012, 01:36 am
1. beast
2. strauss
3. JDP
4. eben
5. kruger
6. flo
7. alberts
8. duane
9. pienaar
10. lambie
11. mvovo
12. JDV
13. JDJ
14. JPP
15. taute
16. brits
17. gurthro
18. flip
19. cotzee
20. hougaard
21. janjies
22. zane
29 Oct 2012, 03:49 am
Bresler should be picked ahead of Kruger and Flip. He is tough as nails, athletic and very, very streetwise. He and Eben would rule the world, Just Like Vic and Bakkies did.
29 Oct 2012, 04:41 am
@Transformation-272:
Hehehe looked like 119kg after his stint in Europe…
29 Oct 2012, 06:43 am
@Transformation-260: Chale, why you won make mahala now? Rhule grew up a Saffa and it shows in his rugby, just with a bit more spice
29 Oct 2012, 07:41 am
Captain of this ship is the bastarrd child of supercilious visionaries!! He wreaks of injustice and the foul stench of a power drunk, absent-minded punK.
Skop put it plainly when he suggested a team is only as good as its coach.
I imagine sometimes if we swapped coaching staff with Aus/ Nzl or even Wales…
Even the great SBW needed a lil coaching and managing, a result prevalent in his ability to do more than just offload in a tackle.
Any capable coach would do wonders with the talent HM has @ his disposal but that’s probably part of the problem. He’s steering this wretched boat holding a compass perpetually fixed toward the Northern Transvaal and no fan on this blog, or any other dickk wielding site is gonna tell him which way to go!!
29 Oct 2012, 08:20 am
So quick to dismiss MSteyn but seriously, where’s his coaching.
I remember a time Nonu didn’t & couldn’t pass a ball for shiit, or how ordinary Kurtly Beale used to be @ fb or fh? How bout Sam whitelocks (average for an AB) all round play?
Only a handful have ever shown a vast improvement because of coaching offshore!!…Monty, same goes for Flouw, Brits, Mujati.
What the damn hell do our coaches get paid for?? Where are these structures that help build on SA strengths, if we have any.
This rot is the plot and it starts higher up top than HM.
29 Oct 2012, 09:15 am
This squad will skop gat, even without the likes of F Steyn, Habana, Bissy, Goosen and Bekker. Very happy to see Mapoe and Brits there – hope they get enough time to show their worth.
29 Oct 2012, 09:20 am
“Obviously losing so many players to injury, the latest being Coenie, Tiaan, Andries, Jacques and Bryan during the Currie Cup, makes it difficult, but this now provides opportunities for other players.”
boks should not be playing currie cup, they should be resting ahead of Euro tour. no need for all those injuries.
29 Oct 2012, 10:55 am
It doesn’t matter who HM chooses, his gameplan is not affective at all.
The squad is atleast too string for a Strauli EOYT nightmare repeat!
I jus can’t see the Boks progressing under HM, they look so mediocre since he took over!!
30 Oct 2012, 11:24 am
@fishdish-311: @race of tan-315: Agree. Heyneke Meyer is a clown with no business coaching the Boks. It would be bad enough if he actually had decent assistant coaches to limit some of the damage he’ll do, but we don’t even have that consolation.
The best thing he ever did was bring in Todd Louden for the Bulls. Without competent support he’s got absolutely nothing as his coaching career has shown in South Africa nearly getting fired by the Bulls before Louden and at Leicster where they couldn’t get rid of him quickly enough.
10 Nov 2012, 13:21 pm
15 Jaco Taute, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 J De Jong, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Mvovo, 10 Pat Lambie, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Duane Vermuelen, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Francois Louw, 5 , Franco van der Merwe, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 1 Beast Mtawarira.
16 Schalk Brits, 17 CJ van der Linde, 18 Pat Cilliers, 19 Flip van der Merwe, 20 Marcell Coetzee, 21 Elton Jantjies, 22 Lionel Mapoe, 23 Francois Hougaard
Would be such a better team!
Pages: « 1 2 3 4 5 6 [7] Show All
Have your say
You must be logged in to post a comment.