South Africa Hold Steady Heading into Saturday
The South African Springboks coach Peter de Villiers has decided to maintain the status quo heading into this weekend’s test against the New Zealand All Blacks, only making two changes to his line-up, and calling up one player.
After coming off of an embarrassing 32-12 loss to the All Blacks in Auckland last week to open up the Tri-Nations cup, the Springboks were expected to make major changes to their roster. However, it looks as though de Villiers is happy with his line up as they head into Wellington on Saturday.
The Boks did suffer some loses in last week’s match however, as Bakkies Botha was suspended for the remainder of the tournament for a headbutt on New Zealand player Jimmy Cowan, while Jannie du Plessis was ruled out of the next match due to injury. These losses have forced de Villiers to call up Flip Van der Merwe.
Van der Merwe made his international debut in June against the French. Van der Merwe will not be in the starting 22-man roster for the weekend but will be on the bench. However, because of the loss of Botha he may see some time when the Springboks take on Australia.
Merwe was surprised to hear about his call up saying “I was on my way to the gym when I heard the news. I had to rush home and start packing.”
The Van der Merwe call up has further implications for the Currie Cup, as he will be forced out of play until the end of the Tri-Nations tournament. The Bulls are looking to repeat as tournament champions, but it is looking more and more difficult as Van der Merwe will be the 12th Bulls player forced out of service due to Tri-Nations obligations, and with a tough match on the weekend against the Sharks, the Bulls’ subs will be asked to carry the load once again.
The injury to Plessis, and the Botha suspension forced de Villiers' hand in making his only two line-up changes. It looks as though Danie Rossouw will replace Botha earning his 50th cap and filling in for the remainder of the tournament, while CJ Van der Linde will take Plessis’ position until he is able to return.
Head coach de Villiers had this to say of his line-up changes, and teams focus heading into the 17th:
“I trust this bunch of people. They weren’t on song on Saturday but they weren’t bad. It’s just that the All Blacks were very good…These boys are much better then what we showcased on Saturday and it’s time for them to stand up.”
The Springboks play New Zealand in Wellington on July 17,, before heading to Australia to a match against the Wallabies on the 24 in Brisbane. The Boks then head back home to play two matches against Australia and one against New Zealand set to go in Johannesburg on August 21st.
The All Blacks have decided to wait to name their side, as they are still hoping that Joe Rokocoko and Jimmy Cowan will be fit for the weekend.
The lack of changes shows that de Villiers has supreme confidence in his line-up. This is a bold move by the coach, if the Springboks receive another drumming similar to last week’s he could be under a great deal of scrutiny. Heading into a tough match in Wellington he will have to hope they can repeat their form from last year’s Tri-Nations and defeat the All Blacks on home turf, or else they will be forced into a must win scenario against the Wallabies in Australia.
Tags: