Peter De Villiers announces Springboks line-up for 2011 Tri Nations against All Blacks - Rugby
South African Rugby Union (SARU) has announced their match day 22 for the last encounter of the 2011 Tri Nations competition. The world champions are yet to win a game in the Southern Hemisphere’s
premier tournament and are looking to make a come back on home soil.
Springboks will host the All Blacks at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth on Saturday, August 20.
Springboks head coach, Peter de Villiers, announced their squad for Saturday’s encounter on Tuesday, August 16. Commenting on the occasion he said, “This is our last chance to look at certain
combinations before the Rugby World Cup. We've had these changes in mind since we started our planning for the international season, depending on the injury situation.”
De Villiers made five changes to the starting lineup, which took the field against Wallabies, during the last weekend at Durban.
Earlier over the weekend, the Springboks fielded their most experienced outfit in the history of rugby, after the return of several of their first choice players. These players missed the away
leg of the Springboks matches for their 2011 Tri Nations competition.
The Springboks might be able to put up a better show this time around because the All Blacks has decided to rest several of their first choice players, to score even with the Boks, who earlier
selected the second string side for their Australasia tour.
The five players included in the starting line-up are Morné Steyn, Willem Alberts, Bismarck du Plessis, Gurthrö Steenkamp and Patrick Lambie.
Lambie will play his second international as a starting xv by replacing the injured Frans Steyn at the fullback position. Steyn has been dropped from the match 22.
Springboks' World Cup winning fly half, Butch James, has been dropped to the bench as Morne Steyn is elevated to start the match at the fly half position in the starting xv. Steyn started
from the bench in their last weekend encounter against the Wallabies.
William Albert will start the match at the number seven position in place of Danie Rossouw, who will start the match from the bench. The duo of Bismarck du Plessis and Gurthrö Steenkamp will
start the match in the front row forwards pack in place of John Smith and Tendai Mtawarira.
Both Smit and Mtawarira will start the match from the bench. Victor Matfield will lead the side in the absence of Smit.
On the bench, Jean Deysel and Gerhard Mostert are being dropped from the match 22. They are replaced by Ashley Johnson and CJ van der Linde, respectively.
The Springboks squad for their Saturday’s encounter against the All Blacks includes
Starting XV:
15 Pat Lambie, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jaque Fourie, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Morné Steyn, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Willem Alberts, 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Bakkies Botha, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis,
1 Gurthrö Steenkamp.
Replacements:
16 John Smit, 17 Tendai Mtawarira, 18 CJ van der Linde, 19 Danie Rossouw, 20 Ashley Johnson, 21 Francois Hougaard, 22 Butch James.
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