Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer has named his team to face the Wallabies at Newlands on Saturday.
Fourie du Preez makes a welcome return to the starting lineup at scrumhalf and Adriaan Strauss gets the nod at hooker, with Bismarck du Plessis set on the bench.
Jannie du Plessis and Morné Steyn will reach the special milestone of playing in their 50th Tests for South Africa against Australia at DHL Newlands in Cape Town on Saturday, as Adriaan Strauss and Fourie du Preez have been promoted to the Springbok starting line-up.
It will be the second time in Springbok history that two players will earn their 50th caps in the same Test – on 1 August 2009 Jean de Villiers and Bryan Habana, now the two most experienced members of the squad, reached this special milestone together against New Zealand in Durban.
Du Plessis and Steyn will become the 25th and 26th Springboks to play in 50 Tests for South Africa. Steyn also needs two points to move to 600 Test points for the Boks – he is currently on 598 in his 49 Tests to date.
The last Springbok to play in his 50th Test was Jannie’s brother Bismarck du Plessis, against Argentina in Mendoza last month, which means they will become the first set of brothers ever to play in 50 Tests for South Africa.
As part of a planned rotational switch, Strauss and Du Preez – who will start his first Test for the Springboks since the 2011 Rugby World Cup quarter-final against Australia in New Zealand – come in for Bismarck du Plessis and Ruan Pienaar respectively, who will both start the Test against Australia on the bench.
The rest of the team that played against New Zealand in Auckland is unchanged.
“We’re all very pleased for Jannie and Morné, who are great ambassadors for South Africa and the Springboks,” said Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer.
“They have endured through difficult times but have shown a lot of resilience and that is why they have made it to this special milestone. It’s well-deserved and a privilege only a very small percentage of Springboks have achieved.”
Regarding the changes to the team, Meyer said: “The players all knew what the plans were for the Rugby Championships and where they stand. We were always going to rotate players where possible and planned to start this Test with Adriaan and Fourie.
“We know we’re in for a big challenge against Australia. The players have been working very hard and we’re looking forward to playing in front of our own supporters at DHL Newlands on Saturday – it’s always special to play Tests in South Africa,” added Meyer.
This will be the Springboks’ 50th Test at DHL Newlands since 1891 – the first stadium in South Africa to host 50 Tests. In the previous 49 Tests, South Africa have won 33, lost 14 and two were drawn for a winning percentage of 67%. The Springboks scored 938 points (122 tries) with 593 points against them (63 tries) – average score 19-12.
Springbok team:
15. Zane Kirchner (26 caps, 20 points)
14. Willie le Roux (7 caps, 5 points)
13. JJ Engelbrecht (8 caps, 20 points)
12. Jean de Villiers (Captain – 91 caps, 115 points)
11. Bryan Habana (90 caps, 255 points)
10. Morné Steyn (49 caps, 598 points)
9. Fourie du Preez (63 caps, 70 points)
8. Duane Vermeulen (11 caps, 5 points)
7. Willem Alberts (25 caps, 30 points)
6. Francois Louw (23 caps, 25 points)
5. Flip van der Merwe (30 caps, 5 points)
4. Eben Etzebeth (18 caps, 0 points)
3. Jannie du Plessis (49 caps, 5 points)
2. Adriaan Strauss (28 caps, 20 points)
1. Tendai Mtawarira (48 caps, 10 points)
Replacements:
16. Bismarck du Plessis (52 caps, 40 points)
17. Gurthrö Steenkamp (44 caps, 30 points)
18. Coenie Oosthuizen (9 caps, 5 points)
19. Juandré Kruger (15 caps, 0 points)
20. Siya Kolisi (6 caps, 0 points)
21. Ruan Pienaar (70 caps, 130 points)
22. Pat Lambie (27 caps, 55 points)
23. Jan Serfontein (7 caps, 5points)
Stats and facts:
- The Springbok starting team boasts a total of 566 Test caps (334 in the backline and 232 in the forwards), while there a further 229 caps worth of experience on the bench.
- South Africa and Australia have played each other 77 times since 1933, with the Springboks winning 43 Tests, losing 33 and one was drawn. The Springboks have scored 1473 points and 176 tries and conceded 1349 points and 138 tries for an average score of 19-18.
- Jean de Villiers will extend his record as the most-capped Springbok centre, with 76 Tests in this position.
- Bryan Habana will extend his record as the most-capped Springbok wing, with 89 Tests in this position and if he scores a try, will extend his record of 51 Test tries for South Africa. Bryan also just needs one try to equal the Castle Lager Rugby Championship / Tri-Nations record of Christian Cullen (New Zealand) who scored 16 tries in his career in this competition. He can also extend his own SA record of nine career tries against Australia.
- Morné Steyn will extend his record as the most-capped Springbok flyhalf, with 48 Tests in this position. If he scores a try, he will also extend his record of seven Test tries as a flyhalf for South Africa. Steyn scored 124 points in his career against Australia, just 16 points short of Percy Montgomery’s record of 140 points. He needs two penalty goals to equal Percy Montgomery’s career record of 31 penalties against Australia. He will also extend his own career records of 14 conversions and three drop goals against Australia. Steyn is currently on 598 career Test points and can become only the second Springbok to score more than 600 points in Tests.
- Bismarck and Jannie du Plessis will extend their SA record of playing together in 29 Tests for South Africa. If he scores a try Bismarck will also extend his own record of eight Test tries for South Africa as a hooker.
- The Du Plessis brothers will become the first set of Springbok brothers to both play in 50 Tests for their country and the fifth pair of brothers worldwide. The others are Mauro (94) and Mirco (89) Bergamasco (Italy); Scott (67) and Gavin (67) Hastings (both Scotland and the British & Irish Lions); Massimo (69) and Marcello (54) Cuttitta (Italy) and Robin (62) and Zinzan (58) Brooke (New Zealand).
- If he goes on and scores a try, Gurthrö Steenkamp will extend his own record of six tries as a prop for South Africa.
- The referee is Jerome Garces of France. This will be his first Test involving South Africa.
Springbok Test match records at DHL Newlands:
- Most points – 35 by Percy Montgomery (1t, 12c, 2p) against Namibia on 15 August 2007.
- Most tries – three each by Tom van Vollenhoven on 20 August 1955 (against the British Lions), Andre Snyman on 10 June 1977 (against Tonga), Schalk Burger and Juan Smith on 15 August 2007 (both against Namibia).
- Most conversions – 12 by Percy Montgomery against Namibia on 15 August 2007.
- Most penalty goals – seven by Percy Montgomery against France on 24 June 2006 and by Morné Steyn against Australia on 8 August 2009.
- Most drop goals – two by Naas Botha against the New Zealand Cavaliers on 10 May 1986 and by Frans Steyn against Australia on 16 June 2007.
Freegin lekker side…. pity that Bissie is on the bench but I understand he will start in the test against the All Blacks next week as part of Meyer’s rotational policy.
Hope the Bokke REALLY moer the Wallabies….
Agree this is a lekker side, would love to see more of Serfontein, maybe give him some game time at 13 with 30 to go? or Jean to 13 if he can only play 12
2 @ Gena_ZA:
Yip, would like to see Jan Serfontein get some game time too, specially as I think that a combo of Jan at 12 plus Jean at 13 would be a better defensive unit too. JJ Engelbrecht still has some lapses in concentration on defence at 13.
O FLOK, ek sien Vaseline is die “Official Skin Care Sponsor of the Springboks”… hoop nie hulle het dit na voorverlede naweek se verloor nodig gehad of gaan dit in die volgende paar weke nodig hê vir seer alies nie… hehehe
Can anyone remember this response to the Haka?
After a while the All Blacks must have felt n bit stupid.
@ superBul:
Fantasties!!
beste response wat ek nog op die ou reen dansie gesien het.
@ smallies:
I enjoyed that too, they were rattled
in fact it is a bit short, all teams must time the Haka and cool down the same length of time, it is only fair
What was the final score in that game?
@ grootblousmile:
why on earth does Meyer recall Marcel Coetzee if he had no intention of using him ; and why after only 2 full games after a long injury and recuperation does he call up PSTD just to carry tackle bags>>>> WEAKING the Sharks side is all part of the conspiracy
@ grootblousmile:
Serfontein in my opinion has done little to warrant his protracted tenure in the 13 jersey
10 @ Raggie:
Raggie,
You are so right bud. I have said so myself and a few others. Why did Meyer call up Coetzee when he was not playing at all on the away tour? He needed more game time with the Sharks than to just sit about with the Boks. Psdt should have been with the Sharks as well. Though I think Meyer wants to take him on the eoyt and needs him to get up to speed with the Boks plans.
Feel my Sharks might have a uphill battle tonight without those two players. Marcel more than ever should have been left at the Sharks as it seems Meyer has no intention at all to use him, where as we at the Sharks do.
Sharks rotation policy is working but hell for some weeks we really need the best to play. We should have had Deysel for this game against Lions. I would have moved Tera to 8 with Deysel at 7 and Keegan at openside for this game. Would also have played Ludik at FB and moved SP Marais to 14 wing. The rest of the selections are fine. Lions loose trio are one of the best in the tourney. Sharks needed to play their best team this week. Feel they missed out by leaving some players out that were in really good form.
Lions also have the best fullback and 14 wing. The reason I would have had SP Marais on the wing for this game and moved Ludik to fb who I think is still a better fb than SP Marias. For now that is as SP Marais is playing very well and will get better.
Sharks should just have used their best this week as we only have two more games and really want a home semi and probably a home final.
Think Lions will win this one tonight. I am hoping not.
11 @ Raggie:
Jan Serfontein actually plays No 12 inside centre, Raggie…
10 @ Raggie:
There is no conspiracy against the Sharks… they automatically conspire against themselves when the crunch is on…. hahahaha
Look, the Springboks HAVE TO HAVE backup players who have trained with the core and understand all the calls, and if it was’nt Marcell Coetzee it would have had to be someone else from some or other province, same with Pieter-Steph du Toit… so bad, so sad… they are next in line! Same is happening with Jano Vermaak this week, Lourens Adrianse and a number of others.
re serfontein Yes of course he is at 12 just have not seen enough of him to notice!
As far as Meyer is concerned he can do no wrong if your eyes are clouded by light blue glasses grootblousmile wrote:
15 @ Raggie:
So Raggie, where do you get the judgment or inference from to say that I look at Heyneke Meyer through light blue tinted glasses and do not stand objective to see where he falters too? Of course I think Heyneke Meyer is a good coach… and hell chap, he seems to have the full buy-in from his Springbok squad too, who by the way is ever improving, so much so that we actually stood a good chance IN New Zealand against the All Blacks… pity about the Bissie incident though.
Have you seen how many Sharkies Heyneke picks?
Have you noticed through the thick black and white haze that the Springboks are Number 2 on the IRB world rankings and could have passed the All Blacks to No 1 spot had we won In New Zealand?
Have you noticed the shift towards the “Total Game” that the Springboks are starting to play?
Have you actually noticed how well the Springbok forwards are doing lately?
I guess not….
Come on dude, take your stupid and less than lucid arguments about Heyneke or tinted glasses to someone who would actually entertain them… it’s like me saying that in your shark invested eyes Heyneke could actually do no right…. would that be a fair assumption?
Rather answer the pertinent question as to who Heyneke Meyer should have had in the 30 man Springbok squad in place of Marcell Coetzee and why Pieter-Steph du Toit should not be next in line at lock at the Bokke…. to be able to grace us with their presense at the Sharkies for your pleasure and at the expense of proper Springbok depth and continuity… come on, I dare you!
@ grootblousmile:
Ok Let me dissect your essay piece by piece and add my contentious opinions.
First and foremost Meyer has flip flopped on Lambie; he was the supposed to be the 1st choice No.10, Plum shifted Lambie to 10 and Lambie adapted his natural running passing game to a kicking one at Meyer’s behest. The consequence of this was a dreadful season from Lambie at 10. The other arrow in Lambie’s quiver was that he is the best No.15 in SA ; what does Meyer do? Yes he brings in a one dimensional bulls player in Kirshner..
Meyer is fortunate that the Boks have a great pack of forwards and this is not because of him it is inspite of him.
The captaincy issue is another eror on his part, yes JdeV is playing great rugby at present; however, will he be there come 2015 RWC I must question the succession planning and building towards that critical period 2 years from now.
The selection for this upcoming game against the Wallabies leaves me perplexed. yes I know Meyer says he is playing Strauss on rotation , but Bismarck has not had the mileage this season that Andries has had, Bissie is the best hooker in world rugby so why not start with Bismarck?
van der Merwe and Kruger are both extremely lucky Boks choices; yes they don’t select themselves but are they really the best locks we had to choose from. On S15 form Landman, and Franco van der Merwe should have been selected before Flip and Jeandre, ( But then they were not Bulls players were they?)
I suppose that I should reserve judgement on Meyer until the AB game in Joburg next week, but until then I am not convinced.
17 @ Raggie:
Raggie, jy redeneer nou mos soos ‘n passer… al om jou eie gat!
I see you still duck and dive to answer my very simple question…
I’ll repeat it, my Sharks blind fellow rugby supporter…
“Who should Heyneke Meyer have had in the 30 man Springbok squad in place of Marcell Coetzee and why should Pieter-Steph du Toit not be next in line at lock at the Bokke…. why should they be able to grace us with their presense at the Sharkies for your pleasure and not at the Bokke to build proper Springbok depth and continuity… come on answer me, I dare you?”
Your initial gripe was about Coetzee & Du Toit, about conspiracy against the Sharks, those were your principal complaints, now answer the retort on your initial complaints… if you have the balls to do so! Answer my Question in inverted commas above!
Then we can talk about Lambie this and Lambie that, Bissie this and Bissie that… just so happens that they are what… yip you guessed it, Sharks blue eyed boykies.
Get a grip fella, your undergarments are hanging out for all to see!
I get it… you don’t like Heyneke Meyer, you don’t like Bulls players, you don’t like a Stormers player as Springbok Captain (notwithstanding the fact that he is doing an excellent job as captain). Luckily your fickle attitude is not the prevailing one about the Springboks, players and coach in South Africa.
No wonder your SuperBru buddies need to be all aggressive to get their point accross and your Bru Chat space has deteriorated into a free for all… I clearly see why!
Users Online
Total 17 users including 0 member, 17 guests, 0 bot online
Most users ever online were 3735, on 31 August 2022 @ 6:23 pm
No Counter as from 31 October 2009: 39,391,560 Page Impressions
_