Flip van der Merwe

Flip van der Merwe

JJ Engelbrecht

JJ Engelbrecht

Gurthrö Steenkamp

Gurthrö Steenkamp

Bakkies Botha

Bakkies Botha

Bakkies Botha will be joined by 3 South African Test players and 1 Ex-Sharks player who has formed part of the Springbok squad in the confirmed World XV squad for their match on Saturday 11 July at DHL Newlands in Cape Town against the Springboks.

The World XV squad boasts a combined total of 460 Test caps and represents 6 nations.

Rugby World Cup winning forwards Bakkies Botha (Toulon) and Gurthrö Steenkamp (Toulouse) will be joined by the Vodacom Blue Bulls’ JJ Engelbrecht and Flip Van der Merwe, as well as former Cell C Sharks hooker Craig Burden (Toulon), a Springbok tourist in 2012, in the 23-man squad which will be coached by former Wallaby and Crusaders mentor Robbie Deans.

The match will be the Springboks’ 1st of the 2015 season before a shortened Castle Later Rugby Championship. It will be a stern test for Heyneke Meyer’s team as they start their preparations for the Rugby World Cup later this year in England.

The inclusion of players such as Botha, Van der Merwe and Steenkamp, who appeared for the Boks against the World XV a year ago, will mean Meyer’s team will have their work cut out as their opponents are familiar with South Africa’s calls, plays and structures.

Experienced All Blacks Ali Williams and Carl Hayman will join Botha, Steenkamp, Burden and Van der Merwe in a powerful pack, that also includes 2014 European Player of the Year Steffon Armitage in the back row and England-qualified prop Petrus du Plessis.

In the backline, Engelbrecht will link up with Wallabies Luke Burgess and Lachie Turner, as well as France’s Maxime Mermoz and Maxime Machenaud.

In total, 10 members of the squad are from Toulon, who completed a hat-trick of European Cup victories when they beat Clermont 24 / 18 in last month’s final.

Deans, who will share the coaching duties with France’s Bernard Laporte, wants to give Meyer’s men a real examination before they take on the Wallabies in Brisbane the following week.

“As a coach you relish the chance to work with talented players and this World XV has the experience and quality to come together quickly and really test South Africa,” said Deans.

“Toulon have been a dominant force in Europe for the last 3 years and the South African contingent led by Bakkies Botha will want to be at least competitive against all their former teammates.

“We know we will need to match the physicality and intensity as well as the skill levels of one of the leading World Cup contenders and it’s a great challenge for myself, Bernard Laporte and the players to work on.”

The Springboks were made to work hard early on in their match against the World XV last year, but cut loose in the 2nd half when they turned a slim 18 / 13 halftime lead into a victory by 47 / 13 in front of more than 30 000 spectators at DHL Newlands.

 

World XV squad:

Backs:
  • Delon Armitage (Toulon, England) 26 caps
  • Luke Burgess (Melbourne Rebels, Australia) 37
  • JJ Engelbrecht (Vodacom Blue Bulls, South Africa) 12
  • Mike Harris (Queensland Reds, Australia) 10
  • Maxime Machenaud (Racing Metro, France) 16
  • Maxime Mermoz (Toulon, France) 30
  • David Smith (Toulon, Samoa) 0
  • Tom Taylor (Crusaders, New Zealand) 3
  • Lachlan Turner (Queensland Reds, Australia) 15
  • Rudi Wulf (Toulon, New Zealand) 4

 

Forwards:
  • Steffon Armitage (Toulon, England) 5
  • Bakkies Botha (Toulon, South Africa) 85
  • Craig Burden (Toulon, South Africa) 0
  • Carl Hayman (Toulon, New Zealand) 45
  • Petrus du Plessis (Saracens, South Africa) 0
  • Louis-Benoit Madaule (Bordeaux-Begles, France) 0
  • Alexandre Menini (Toulon, France) 6
  • David Roumieu (Bayonne, France) 0
  • Gurthrö Steenkamp (Toulouse, South Africa) 53
  • Jordan Taufua (Crusaders, New Zealand) 0
  • Flip van der Merwe (Vodacom Blue Bulls, South Africa) 35
  • Luke Whitelock (Crusaders, New Zealand) 1
  • Ali Williams (Toulon, New Zealand) 77

7 Responses to Internationals: World XV – 5 Springboks in the side against Bokke

  • 1

    A pointless game that will probably leave more questions than answers.

    SARU in need of revenue?

  • 2

    @ Scrumdown:
    It is also the WPRU.

    They were pushing for the previous game to be held, this year they wont be getting a Test match for the first time in a long time as well.

  • 3

    WPRU should have got the AB test this year. The AB’s played 4 out of the last 5 tests they played in SA in JHB.

    Fear is no justification……..

  • 4

    @ robzim:
    Not sure that WP SHOULD have the all blacks test this year when you consider that they have hosted a RC game for 3 years in a row.

    2015
    DBN
    JHB

    2014
    PTA
    CT
    JHB

    2013
    JHB
    CT
    JHB

    2012
    CT
    PTA
    JHB

    2011
    DBN
    PE

    2010
    JHB
    PTA
    Bloem

    2009
    Bloem
    DBN
    CT

  • 5

    @ MacroPolo:

    The AB’s are the team people want to see and they have not been to CT since 2008.

    They have also not been to Loftus for quite a while so i would not have minded if the 2015 test was allocated to Pretoria but to give it to JHB yet again is a bit too much.

  • 6

    @ robzim:
    Yep, it is a bit unfair that JHB gets preferential treatment, but I remember Thelo also crying last year that they want to host the All Blacks this year… I just find that unfair, because apart from JHB, CT has hosted a RC game 3 years in a row, while DBN or PE has not had a game in 4 years, Bloem has not had a game in 6 years. PTA has hosted a RC every 2 years since 2009.

    I don’t remember if SARU released any reasons as to giving JHB, AB games consistently.

  • 7

    “PTA has hosted a RC every 2 years since 2009″… so PTA also not in a position to make any demands

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