John Smit back to lead Springboks side in their upcoming quarter-final clash against Wallabies
South African Rugby Union (SARU) has announced the Springboks most experienced side for their upcoming 2011 Rugby World Cup (RWC) quarter-final clash against the Wallabies. Springboks have also included John Smit in the squad and will take on the 2011 Tri Nations champions Wallabies at Westpac Stadium, Wellington on Sunday, October 9.
SARU announced their squad on Wednesday, October 5. The team contains three changes as compared to the Springboks match-day 22 which took the field against Samoa on Friday, September 30.
The changes include the return of their World Cup-winning hooker, John Smit, who will lead his side, featuring a combined 836 caps, into the match. Gurthrö Steenkamp will join Smit in the front row and Jean de Villiers will start at the centre position in place of Frans Steyn. Steyn sustained a shoulder injury in their last weekend game against Samoa and has been ruled unfit to play the knock-out match.
In addition to this, the starting xv include eight players which were part of Springboks starting XV for 2007 RWC final’s game.
Springboks complete squad, alongside with their international and RWC caps are given below:
Starting XV:15 Pat Lambie (KwaZulu-Natal) – 10 caps, 3 RWC caps, 14 JP Pietersen (KwaZulu-Natal) – 41, 10, 13 Jaque Fourie (Western Province) – 68, 14, 12 Jean de Villiers (Western Province) – 71, 3, 11 Bryan Habana (Western Province) – 73, 10, 10 Morné Steyn (Blue Bulls) – 33, 4, 9 Fourie du Preez (Blue Bulls) – 61, 10, 8 Pierre Spies (Blue Bulls) – 46, 4, 7 Schalk Burger (Western Province) – 67, 12, 6 Heinrich Brüssow (Free State) – 19, 4, 5 Victor Matfield (Blue Bulls) – 109, 13, 4 Danie Rossouw (Blue Bulls) – 62, 14, 3 Jannie du Plessis (KwaZulu-Natal) – 29, 5, 2 John Smit (captain, KwaZulu-Natal) – 110, 16, 1 Gurthrö Steenkamp (Blue Bulls) – 37, 5.
Replacements: 16 Bismarck du Plessis (KwaZulu-Natal) – 41, 8, 17 CJ van der Linde (Golden Lions) – 73, 7, 18 Willem Alberts (KwaZulu-Natal) – 8, 4, 19 Francois Louw (Bath, England) – 9, 2, 20 Francois Hougaard (Blue Bulls) – 14, 4, 21 Butch James (Golden Lions) – 42, 7, 22 Gio Aplon (Western Province) – 16, 1.
Tags: