Rassie without five for Tests
SHARKS CLASH: VAN ROOYEN MAKES THREE CHANGES
At least five players who formed part of the Springbok squad on their recent tour of Australasia will not feature in the remaining two matches of the Rugby Championship.
Seventeen players were set to convene in Port Elizabeth today to start their preparations for the final two Tests against Australia at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium next week and New Zealand at Loftus Versfeld the week after.
Rassie Erasmus, SA Rugby’s director of rugby, confirmed yesterday the squad would be further bolstered when a number of other players concluded their provincial duties in the Currie Cup this weekend.
“We are still keeping an eye on a number of players who we would like to involve in the coming weeks, but we would first like to see them get through their provincial matches this weekend,” Erasmus said.
“The players had a brief break after returning from New Zealand and I’m sure they will return fresh and energised for the last two matches.”
It was confirmed that Damian De Allende (shoulder), fellow centre Lukhanyo Am (shoulder) and wing Makazole Mapimpi (ankle) would not participate in the two home Tests after they were ruled out due to injury.
Fullback Willie le Roux (Wasps) and loose forward Francois Louw (Bath) had returned to their English clubs after the pair featured in the Springboks’ four Championship matches to date.
“While we have lost a couple of players to injury, we are looking forward to possibly welcoming back some others who have been playing for their provinces and have recovered from injury,” Erasmus said.
“The two home matches will give us more time to work together as a group, to build on continuity and increase our depth.”
Around 4 000 tickets were still available for the Port Elizabeth Test, while the fixture in Pretoria would be played in front of a capacity crowd, with the Boks targeting a second straight win over the All Blacks.
The performance by the Springboks last week has filtered through to the Currie Cup competition and gave the Golden Lions a big lift. Lions coach Ivan van Rooyen revealed yesterday his squad had watched the Test together, with the Boks securing a memorable victory over the All Blacks.
“We watched the Bok game before we all started our day last weekend,” Van Rooyen said.
“It was really inspirational. It was a great start to the day for us and we were hoping to finish it off.”
They could not “finish it off” later that day, as they received a big hiding from Western Prov- ince, but the Lions were hoping to get back on track against the Sharks in Durban tomorrow.
“It was a really exciting challenge for us,” Van Rooyen said.
“Province obviously are the defending champions and they have been playing good rugby.”
Van Rooyen made three changes to his team yesterday, with Springbok scrumhalf Ross Cronje set to lead the Lions this weekend, taking over from lock Marvin Orie after he was released by the Bok management team.
In the only other changes to the starting line-up, Pieter Jansen would turn out at hooker while Johannes Jonker was back at tighthead.
Heading into their penultimate match ahead of the playoffs, Van Rooyen felt they had to make the most of it, with their next fixture scheduled for October 12 against the Pumas.
He believed they had learned a lot from the Province defeat.
“Province are good defensively and we were looking to keep the ball and also see what we could offer on attack,” Van Rooyen said.
They had known, however, that Province were going to get ball and they knew they had to defend well, so they would try to eliminate their errors this week.
“We have a young pack and last weekend was the first proper test for them.
“It was our last home game and we really wanted to do well, but we have addressed our mistakes.”
Also see Page 39
Andries Coetzee, Sylvian Mahuza, Lionel Mapoe, Howard Mnisi, Courtnall Skosan, Shaun Reynolds, Ross Cronje (capt), Hacjivah Dayimani, Len Massyn, James Venter, Marvin Orie, Rhyno Herbst, Johannes Jonker, Pieter Jansen, Sti Sithole. Corne Fourie, Jacobie Adriaanse, Reinhard Nothnagel, Driaan Bester, Nic Groom, Gianni Lombard, Wandisile Simelane.
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