Heinrich Brüssow
The Springbok team to face New Zealand’s All Blacks for the 90th time shows 9 changes to the match-23 which did duty against Australia’s Wallabies, for the 2nd match in the condensed Castle Lager Rugby Championship, at Emirates Airline Park in Johannesburg on Saturday.
Heinrich Brüssow will make his 1st start for the Springboks since the 2011 Rugby World Cup, while Vincent Koch has been included on the bench for what could be his Test debut for South Africa.
JP Pietersen, who was initially picked on the right wing, has since starined his hamstring in training and is replaced on right wing by Cornal Hendricks, with Lionel Mapoe replacing Cornal Hendricks’ place on the bench.
Of the 9 changes, 3 are to the pack, 1 to the backline and 5 are on the bench. The backline is unchanged. Schalk Burger will captain the team from No 8.
Francois Louw will start in the No 7 jersey for the injured Marcell Coetzee in a positional change, with Heinrich Brüssow assuming the openside role (No 6). The only other changes to the starting line-up is at lock, where Lood de Jager takes over from Victor Matfield and on right wing where Cornal Hendricks will do duty.
On the bench, Vincent Koch will be joined by Lionel Mapoe, Trevor Nyakane, Flip van der Merwe and Warren Whiteley, who could make his 1st Test appearance in South Africa, in front of his home crowd in Johannesburg.
“Injuries have forced our hand a bit, but we’ve stuck with our planned rotational policy on the bench and it will be great to see what Heinrich, Vincent and Flip can do,” said Meyer.
“The breakdown battle will again be huge and it will be good to see Heinrich and Francois play together. They are versatile players and I am convinced they will combine perfectly.
“Heinrich has been great this season before he got injured and played his way into contention. As with other players returning from injury in Vodacom Super Rugby, he deserves an opportunity. We decided it was better to start with him and use Warren as an impact player later in the match.
“It’s also great to see Flip back in the fold. We had a look at Pieter-Steph du Toit but he is not yet 100% match-ready, and Franco Mostert was also discussed but in the end we decided to go with Flip as he will add valuable experience to our bench.
“We planned to bring Trevor, Warren and Cornal back for this match. Trevor and Warren have been playing great rugby this season and Cornal is a superb finisher, as he’s shown so often last year.”
Pietersen strained his hamstring at Wednesday’s training session at St Peter’s College and will not be available to face the All Blacks. As a result, Cornal Hendricks will start at right wing, with Mapoe coming onto the bench.
“It’s a huge setback to lose JP for a big match such as this one as he has been in good form and brings valuable experience to our backline, but Cornal played against the All Blacks last year, scored a brilliant try in Wellington and is raring to go,” said Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer.
“Lionel was not available for selection because of injury when we got together as a squad a few weeks ago and Jesse Kriel grabbed his opportunity with both hands. That is why I am delighted that Lionel is now getting his chance.
“We had a number of options on the bench, but decided on Lionel as he covers wing and outside centre, which is what we had in JP.”
Meyer said that the Springboks faced a huge challenge on Saturday as they continue to build towards the Rugby World Cup against a fired-up Kiwi side.
“This will be a massive Test – every match against the All Blacks is,” said Meyer.
“We played some great rugby last weekend, but this week we have to put in an 80-minute effort. We have to be especially focused in the last 10 minutes, because New Zealand always finish strongly. They travelled here with us so that negates any advantage we could’ve had at the end of the match.
“The challenge will also be to make a step up in vital areas of the game and get back on the winning track. By not making too many changes this week, we’re giving some combinations the opportunity to settle a bit more. Our youngsters will have to put up their hands on Saturday – I would not have selected them if I didn’t believe they can do the job.”
Springbok Team (Test Caps & Test Points Scored in Brackets):
15 Willie le Roux – Toyota Cheetahs (26, 35)
14 Cornal Hendricks – Toyota Cheetahs (11, 25)
13 Jesse Kriel – Vodacom Bulls (1, 5)
12 Damian de Allende – DHL Stormers (4, 0)
11 Bryan Habana – Toulon (107, 285)
10 Handré Pollard – Vodacom Bulls (10, 75)
9 Ruan Pienaar (Vice-captain) – Ulster (81, 135)
8 Schalk Burger (Captain) – DHL Stormers (76, 70)
7 Francois Louw – Bath (35, 25)
6 Heinrich Brüssow – Toyota Cheetahs (20, 5)
5 Lood de Jager – Toyota Cheetahs (10, 10)
4 Eben Etzebeth – DHL Stormers (34, 5)
3 Jannie du Plessis – Cell C Sharks (63, 5)
2 Bismarck du Plessis – Cell C Sharks (71, 45)
1 Tendai Mtawarira – Cell C Sharks (65, 10)
Replacements:
16 Adriaan Strauss – Vodacom Bulls (45, 25)
17 Trevor Nyakane – Vodacom Bulls (12,, 5)
18 Vincent Koch – DHL Stormers (0, 0)
19 Flip van der Merwe – Vodacom Bulls (35, 5)
20 Warren Whiteley – Emirates Lions (2, 0)
21 Cobus Reinach – Cell C Sharks (7, 10)
22 Pat Lambie – Cell C Sharks (41, 106)
23 Lionel Mapoe – Emirates Lions (0, 0)
Stats and facts:
- The Springbok starting team boasts a total of 614 Test caps (240 in the backline and 374 in the forwards), while there are a further 142 caps worth of experience on the bench.
- South Africa and New Zealand have played each other 89 times since 1921, with the Springboks winning 35, losing 51 and three were drawn. The Springboks have scored 1,392 points and 137 tries and conceded 1,718 points and 177 tries for an average score of 16-19.
- South Africa and New Zealand last met on 4 October 2015 at Emirates Airline Park in Johannesburg. The Springboks beat New Zealand by 27-25 thanks to a late 55 metre penalty from the boot of replacement flyhalf Patrick Lambie.
- Schalk Burger will become South Africa’s 55th Springbok captain in history.
- Bryan Habana will extend his own record as the most-capped Springbok wing, with 106 caps in this position. If he scores a try he will extend his own record of 57 Test tries for South Africa as well as most Test tries against New Zealand (7) and the Castle Lager Rugby Championship record of 18 tries.
- If he scores a try, Bismarck du Plessis will extend his record of nine Test tries for South Africa as a hooker. He will also extend his SA record of 40 Tests (22 in the starting line-up) with his brother Jannie and 17 Tests with Jannie and Tendai Mtawarira as the starting front row pairing for SA.
- If they goes on, Vincent Koch and / or Lionel Mapoewill become Springbok #868 in history and the other will become #869.
- It will be Heyneke Meyer’s 39th Test in charge of the Springboks since he took over in 2012. Of the previous 38 Tests South Africa have won 26, lost ten and drew twice. He is 3rd now on the all-time list with only Peter de Villiers (48) and Jake White (54) in front of him.
- The referee is Jerome Garces of France. It will be his 5th Test involving South Africa. Of the previous 4 South Africa have won 3 and lost 1. His last appearance was in November 2014 against Italy in Padova when the Boks won 22 / 6.
Springbok Test match records at Emirates Airline Park (Ellis Park) in Johannesburg:
- Most points: 28 by Gavin Johnson (3t, 5c,1p) against Samoa on 13 April, 1995
- Most tries: 4 by Chester Williams against Samoa on 10 June, 1995 and by Jongi Nokwe against Australia on 30 August, 2008
- Most conversions: 9 by Butch James against Argentina on 9 August, 2008
- Most penalty goals: 6 by Percy Montgomery against France on 16 June, 2001 and by Louis Koen against Scotland on 14 June, 2003
- Most drop goals: 2 by Joel Stransky against New Zealand on 24 June, 1995 and by Jannie de Beer against New Zealand on 19 July, 1997
Date: Saturday 25 July
Venue: Emirates Airline Park, Johannesburg
Kick-Off: 17:05 SA Time (15:05 GMT, Sunday 03:05 NZ Time)
Referee: Jérôme Garcès (France)
Assistant Referees: Romain Poite (France), Leighton Hodges (Wales)
TMO: Graham Hughes (England)
Pietman wrote:
Nogals snaaks wat mense se persepsies is, Pollard het n maklike skop gemis en toe 2 van die hoekie af oorgesit vir n 4/5 statistiek (80%)… in vergelyking het Carter 6/9 oorgeskop (67%), Sanchez 2/3 (67%) en Cooper 3/5 (60%).
NZINCHINA wrote:
Broadhurst and Rettlick in the same pack is just fucking scary.
NZINCHINA wrote:
New Zealand: 15 Israel Dagg, 14 Ben Smith, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma’a Nonu, 11 Charles Piutau, 10 Lima Sopoaga, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (c), 6 Liam Messsam, 5 James Broadhurst, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Tony Woodcock
Replacements: 16 Codie Taylor, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Ben Franks, 19 Sam Whitelock, 20 Victor Vito, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Beauden Barrett, 23 Malakai Fekitoa
Infact that could be one of the best All Black teams to ever play in South African in history… do not know about Meyer but I am terrified.
33 @ MacroPolo:
strangely enough I’m of different opinion on this one. I think Meyer has been forced to pick a much better Bok side due to injuries and the AB team is worse off without Smith at 15 and Savea not there. Boks can win this, if they kick more astute and don’t sub for the sake of it
@ MacroPolo:
Hy het TWEE maklikes gemis!
@ nortie:
Agreed! No up-and-unders into nowhere, please!!!
@ MacroPolo:
Dagg at 15 is a mistake, injuries have allowed him to play there. Savea is a huge loss.
@ NZINCHINA:
What’s wrong with Savea, injured?
38 @ Pietman:
Earlier in this week Julian Savea suffered from Asthma… see it is reported on in the Read and 61 000 fans article…
I suppose that might be the reason.
Flippen interesting All Blacks side… I will put up an article about it in a little while.
@ Pietman:
Asthma attack.
@ NZINCHINA:
@ grootblousmile:
Thx.
Looking forward to the game. But eish, the restrictions that have to be implemented.
No braais allowed excepting at the Webber area at the Joburg stadium. No food or drink allowed in the stadium. Being very strict regarding the parking as well.
@ nortie:
Don’t get me wrong Savea is the best wing in the world, but apart from Dagg and Sapoaga the TEAM is just really flippen good, that pack in unbelievable.
I also seriously rate Charles Piutau.
One or two individual players will make this team even stronger.
Pietman wrote:
Wikipedia has Pollard at 4/5
NZ herald rugby stats 4/5
Vodacom rugby stats app 4/5
Pollard het een gemis (n maklike ene)
Maar 2 van die kantlyn af oorgeskop.
MacroPolo wrote:
I hear you, but IMHO, if I compare the two teams nothing jumps out showing AB superiority.
Aaron Smith, yes….if Ben Smith was at 15, yes.
I really think this Bok team is much stronger and better, because Meyer can’t pick the players he would prefer to.
Our loose forward combo looks very good, and I guess he will take Brussouw off after 50 or 60 minutes, move Schalk to flank and bring on Whiteley.
There is also a chance for rain, so that should count in our favor as well.
The big issue is the game plan….if we play WC finals rugby and keep it tight, we stand a better than even chance of winning.
If we decide to go for broke and try and play free flowing running rugby, we might see a repeat of 2013….we might score 4 tries, but we are playing into their hands and they will probably score 6 tries in reply
nortie wrote:
Yep we will never beat them with a “running game”… well not at this stage of SA Rugby, because none of our provinces play like that.
nortie wrote:
I think that is pretty funny, in South Africa, if Ben Smith has a bad game the coach will be blamed for selecting him out of his best position, but he wont, he would probably be an excellent 12, and will end up being equally crucial at 14 as he would at 15.
@ MacroPolo:
I was referring to a like for like comparison between our players and theirs.
Aaron Smith is streets ahead of Pienaar
Ben Smith, if compared to Willie is also streets ahead IMO.
But compared to Habana, I would pick Habana.
Comparing the players per position it’s pretty even Stevens, with the Boks even pipping them in certain positions
MacroPolo wrote:
We have never beaten them by playing “running rugby” except maybe in 2004 at Ellispark
We used to beat them by bashing them up with big forwards, good defense, kicking all our penalties and by, every once in a while having a wing like Habana or Pieter Rossouw breaking out and scoring a try
We don’t have Vermeulen or Alberts to bash it up, but we’re playing two fetchers (actually four as Bismarck is also a fetcher and Schalk used to fetch too) so we’ll have to change the way we play
nortie wrote:
Willie can be a genius and create amazing plays out of nothing
He can also be mediocre and cost the team
It’s feast or famine with him
I prefer a solid as houses fullback like Percy or Juba
Sorry to change the subject but some wisecrack sent a message to a Jhb newspaper…
The Springboks did their bit for Mandela Day last week…they played for 67 minutes.
Victoriabok wrote:
lol everyone needs to be a “fetcher”.
Attacking the ruck is something the whole team needs to do, even Pollard stole a crucial ball on defense and de Allende got one or two… so you should also label them as “fetchers” would you?
The All Blacks also attempt to have close to 15 fetchers on the field.
@ Victoriabok:
Vermeulen was also one of the leading “fetchers” in the Rugby Championship, so should we move him to the 6 or should we see it as an evolution of the game?
MacroPolo wrote:
I know, last season Hougie and Ndugane torned over more balls than any of the Bulls forwards
I’m saying all four players are known to be or have been dedicated fetchers
@ Victoriabok:
Bryan turns over more balls than most, as a result of his defensive strength, but I think that a fetcher’s job is more than that, slowing down the ball, preventing the other fetchers like McCaw from recycling our ball etc….
@ Victoriabok:
Zactly! You HAVE to tackle them backwards, HARD!!!
BrumbiesBoy wrote:
Ja faarkit…a lot of good THAT did us…we lost the game in the 82nd minute, from being 20-7 ahead
@ MacroPolo:
Vermeulen was one of the main reasons why we lost last year at Ellis, this new locking pair of Retallick/Broadhurst could be sensational, both big boys at 120 + kg’s with huge work rates & highly skilled , they might just win us the match.
nortie wrote:
Your statement says it all.
Against Aus the kicks were aimless, and the substitution strictly to a predetermined timeframe.
Do you honestly think that the SA Management “leopard” can change it’s spots?
Methinks not.
Wet field for the game with a good chance of morning rain clearing from around lunchtime to sunny but cool with a moderate W to SW wind.
Not perhaps ideal conditions for SA.
With today’s overnight rain and more expected it could develop into a bit of a quagmire.
Can anyone inform this poor ill informed soul how much competetive Rugby Mr Broussouw has played of late, and where?
I suppose I could do some investigating on the “net” but really can’t be bothered after a long week.
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