Springbok coach Peter de Villiers has confirmed that players who feature in the Super 14 final will not play against Wales next month.
Currently the Bulls and the Stormers lead the Super 14 tournament and since 2007 the Springboks have largely been made up of players from the Bulls and Sharks.
Wales are due to host the world champions at the Millennium Stadium on June 5 but Warren Gatland’s men look like taking on an almost unrecognizable Springbok team to most Wales fans.
The team is still likely to be led by John Smit as his Sharks are out of the running for the Super14 title but the likes of Bryan Habana, Jaque Fourie, Schalk Burger, Victor Matfield, Pierre Spies, Bakkies Botha, Morne Steyn and Fourie du Preez could all miss the trip to Cardiff.
De Villiers has admitted that his target for the 2010 season is the TriNations tournament and says that he will be treating the June Tests with Wales, France and back-to-back encounters with Italy as trial games for the Tri-Nations.
“My ability as coach will be tested because I have a week to build a team,” said de Villiers of the trip to Wales.
“I know I may be shooting myself in the foot if my aim is to set records, but it’s the right thing for South African rugby.”
De Villiers says that he might break tradition by shunning foreign based players and consider four or five players based overseas for the clash against Wales.
“We don’t know how good the overseas players really are because the competitions there are different,” he told the Western Mail.
“We will consider players in South Africa for the Tri-Nations unless we have a situation where the locally-based player is not as good as the one overseas.
“The best South African team will only play against France.
“But those four games are of critical interest on the road to the World Cup.
“By then we would have seen everyone in action.”
In another twist for Springbok selections De Villiers says that plans on picking a team made up largely of South Africa’s northern provinces for the opener with Italy in Witbank and from its southern provinces for the follow-up Test in East London.
But de Villiers insisted: “We are not underestimating Italy at all.”
“We have a lot of respect for them and consider them the best scrummaging side in the world.
“They will test us thoroughly in the scrums and we’ll get a good idea of who the best players are in that area.
“I’m looking at a northern team in Witbank and a southern team in East London.
“It does not mean that we won’t pick some guys from the south in the northern side and vice versa. We want to win those Tests.”
De Villiers added that he is hoping to tour at the end of the year with the 30 players he wants to make up his 2011 World Cup squad so Wales may not face South Africa’s best in June but in November they could.
“It will be the last opportunity to build a camp around rugby prior to the World Cup,” he said.
“If the players gel the way I think they can, we’ll have cohesion the next time we tour.”
So, basically we will be fielding a Bok ‘B’ team?
Should still beat tghem though….
Pietman, that’s what we thought last year.
Think we will struggle with our B team.. But the Super 14 guys badly need a rest.its a matter of time before more break down..
Hello Loosie!
No man, we will beat them, with most of the Sharks and Cheetahs being available.
Hi Piet!
Kak weather hey?
I’ll be very interested to see what the side would be? Would any foreign based players be considered?
If there are no Bulls and Stormers, there is a bit of a backline problem….
Who do you choose as backline…
9. Ruan Pienaar
10. Naas Olivier (bewaar my siel)
11. Mvovo
12. Meyer Bosman
13. Walter Venter
14. Odwa Ndungane
15. Patrick Lambie of Hennie Danniler
Nie EEN van die ouens sal die Bok beste span haal nie, Ruan Pienaar sal op die Bank wees na Fourie du Preez
Voorspelers is minder van ‘n probleem… gebruik net die Sharks forwards pak… netso….
Yes Loosie, strong winds over here, had to tie up my deckchairs at home, they were blowing all over the place.
But nice weather for dinner at the Lighthouse Tavern, kaggel fire, red wine and Eisbein, going there with the wife tonite for a littlr bifday celebration.
GBS
Nee, ek dink Meyer Bosman, nie Naas nie…
Gbs,that is a very kak backline,reminds me of the Sharks 🙂
10@ Winnie – Yip, a very kak backline…. but who else?
Maybe the following…
9. Sarel Pretorius
10. Ruan Pienaar
11. Mvovo
12. Meyer Bosman
13. Walter Venter
14. Michael Killian
15. Patrick Lambie or Hennie Danniler
Maybe a backline with plenty International Saffa players
9. Ruan Pienaar
10. Butch James
11. Mvovo
12. Jean de Villiers
13. Gcobani Bobo
14. Odwa Ndungane
15. Fransie Steyn
11 – GBS, NO not that team boeta, we can put together for the Wales game a very, very good side.
9. Ruan
10. Butch
11. Mvovo
12. Frans Steyn
13. Bobo
14. Jean de Villier
15. Pat Lambie
8. Kanko
7. Juan Smith
6. Deysel.
5. Hargreaves
4. Sykes.
3. BJ
2. Strauss (if not injured)
1. John Smit.
Not sure who on the bench.
8 – Piet, nice man, sounds great. Enjoy.
Then of course looking at all the great saffa players names above that are playing abroad, then we could select some of them too.
Hummmm…..So the Springbok B team are going to beat Wales….!!!
I seem to remember the “Springbok Dirt Trackers” got beaten at Wembley by the Sarries, back in November!
16 That wasn’t a B team maybe a development team
16 – Blue Bird……hehehe. NO that was not our B team like Pokkel says, it was our development team 😉 Big difference to playing our B team. We can put together a really formidable B team. 😀
Tough task. Only allowed to pick from the Cheetahs, Sharks and Lions. There maybe even one or 2 vodacom cup players I would pick over some of the players in the teams above. This is basically like inviting some-one to a buffet and telling them they kan only eat the rice. I agree with resting players from the Bulls and Stormers, but cutting your own throat and pissing off all SA rugby supporters in the process is just stupid.
19 – Timothy, welcome here as I have never seen your here before.
The thing is we play the final of the S14 just the Saturday before this game. Need to choose our 2nd best we can really put together a formidable B side I think.
19 – Timothy after the Wales game we have the French game the next week I think. So we really have to save our best to play the French who we have not beaten in a long time.
Why they have this Wales game put in I have no idea. It was not in the rugby schedule early this year. Think it is all about money, never mind how tired the players are.
We can choose some overseas based players too I think. So see us putting together a really good side to play Wales.
@Puma – Thanks
I agree with you. But take this into consideration. There are players in the Bulls and Stormers camps that have not played that many games in the Super 14 or vodacom cup. For example, Willem DeWaal, Jacques Louis Potgieter ext, there is a list.
But I think the best for us to do at this stage is to pick primarely overseas players as they are used to playing over there, and are used to the condisions.
Remember this next time a NH side sends an understrength team down 🙄
23 – Rugby Princess, morning or afternoon to you. Well they always do so they just can not complain this time.
We might have two SA sides in the final of the S14 that will only be played a week before. Those players must be rested for the French game which is the very next week.
We have enough depth to play a very competitive side against Wales.
Not like our mid-week team we sent up north end of year last year. That was a development side. We select our 2nd best they could still beat Wales. 😛
22 – Timothy yes, agree we could select just overseas players. You are right the players that never got enough game time in the S14 like JLP could get selected too.
Though that time in Wales it is summer, so hoping it will be more like the weather we are used to playing down here.
Wales will probably klap any team that is not full strength.
(for Euro games-if the players are ready, back ups in brackets)
Frans Steyn
JP (Chavanga)
Doppies le Grange
Jean De Villiers
Nokwe (Mvovo)
Naas Olivier (James)
Ruan Pienaar
Kanko
Wikus van Heerden
Steven Sykes
Johan Muller
BJ Botha
Adriaan Struass
Beast
Damn, forgot about Juan Smith. replace Wikus with Smith and add Jean Deysel
27 – Too many lions and cheetahs. These players are not on form and it would not be the right thing to do to these players, giving them false hope.
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