Western Province No 8 Duane Vermeulen and Cheetahs flyhalf Johan Goosen are the two uncapped players that have been added to the Springbok squad. The squad of 28 for Tests against Australia in Perth (September 8) and New Zealand in Dunedin (September 15), was finalised on Wednesday.
Apart from the inclusion of Vermeulen and Goosen, there were recalls for Western Province midfielder Juan de Jongh as well as Bath loose forward Francois Louw, who has captained his English club before.
De Jongh was part of the squad for the first Test against Argentina in Cape Town while it will be Louw’s first involvement with the Springboks since last year’s Rugby World Cup in New Zealand.
Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer has confidence in the squad that has been selected, even though injuries, unavailability and retirement have robbed the Springboks of more than 800 Test caps worth of experience.
“We were not happy with our performance in Mendoza and we are making no excuses for what happened there, but we take full responsibility and have to look forward and get ready for our next tough match, against Australia in Perth,” said Meyer.
“Untimely injuries to Bismarck du Plessis, Chiliboy Ralepelle, Pierre Spies, JP Pietersen and Bjorn Basson have already hit us hard in the past few weeks. This again provides opportunities for other players to put up their hands.
“We were very keen to give Siya Kolisi an opportunity on this tour, but he is also out injured, alongside a list of other injured or unavailable forwards that include Gurthrö Steenkamp, Heinrich Brüssow, Schalk Burger, Juan Smith and Ryan Kankowski.”
Commenting on the four new players in the squad, Meyer said: “Injuries meant we could not use Duane and Johan earlier in the season, but both have played Absa Currie Cup rugby since their return and after consultation with their respective provincial medical teams, we’re confident that they are ready to travel with us.
“While Duane and Johan are medically fit, their provincial coaches felt it necessary that they get more game time in the Absa Currie Cup this weekend, but as we don’t have a lot of time to prepare and we need as much time with them as possible to get them used to our structures and game plans, the decision was taken to select them for the tour.
“I regard both of them as world class rugby players. If it wasn’t for injuries, Duane would have been a Springbok long ago. I also believe Johan has a long career ahead of him at Test match level and we will expose him when and how we feel it will benefit the player and the team best.
“Both Juan and Francois played at the Rugby World Cup last year and are experienced players. Juan covers both positions in the midfield and we opted for Francois because he is a specialist openside flanker, in the absence of Schalk, Heinrich and Siya, that can cover blindside and No 8 as well, while he is also a very useful option in the lineout.
“I’m also very excited with the quality of young talent coming through – Eben, Marcell and Johan are all still Under-21 and that bodes well for the future of Springbok rugby.”
The Springbok squad will assemble in Johannesburg on Thursday and is scheduled to depart for Perth on Saturday evening.
The Springbok squad:
| Name | Province | Position | Test Caps |
| Willem Alberts | The Sharks | Loose forward | 13 |
| Andries Bekker | Western Province | Lock | 26 |
| Craig Burden | The Sharks | Hooker | 0 |
| Pat Cilliers | Golden Lions | Prop | 2 |
| Marcell Coetzee | The Sharks | Loose forward | 5 |
| Juan de Jongh | Western Province | Centre | 10 |
| Jean de Villiers (captain) | Western Province | Centre | 77 |
| Jannie du Plessis | The Sharks | Prop | 35 |
| Eben Etzebeth | Western Province | Lock | 5 |
| Johan Goosen | FS Cheetahs | Flyhalf | 0 |
| Dean Greyling | Blue Bulls | Prop | 2 |
| Bryan Habana | Western Province | Wing | 79 |
| Francois Hougaard | Blue Bulls | Scrumhalf | 20 |
| Zane Kirchner | Blue Bulls | Fullback | 17 |
| Juandré Kruger | Blue Bulls | Lock | 3 |
| Pat Lambie | The Sharks | Fullback / Flyhalf | 13 |
| Tiaan Liebenberg | Western Province | Hooker | 1 |
| Francois Louw | Bath, England | Loose forward | 10 |
| Tendai Mtawarira | The Sharks | Prop | 37 |
| Lwazi Mvovo | The Sharks | Wing | 6 |
| Ruan Pienaar | Ulster, N-Ireland | Scrumhalf | 56 |
| Jacques Potgieter | Blue Bulls | Loose forward | 3 |
| Frans Steyn | The Sharks | Centre | 51 |
| Morné Steyn | Blue Bulls | Flyhalf | 39 |
| Adriaan Strauss | FS Cheetahs | Hooker | 14 |
| Flip van der Merwe | Blue Bulls | Lock | 16 |
| Jano Vermaak | Blue Bulls | Scrumhalf | 0 |
| Duane Vermeulen | Western Province | No 8 | 0 |
if i had to choose from the current squad….
1) Beast
2) Liebenberg
3) Du Plessis
4) Etzebeth
5) Kruger
6) Louw
7) Alberts
8) Vermeulen
9) Pienaar
10) Goosen
11) Habana
12) F. Steyn
13) JDV (c)
14) Hougaard
15) Lambie
16) Strauss
17) Cilliers
18) Bekker
19) Coetzee
20) Vermaak
21) M. Steyn
22) Mvovo/ De Jongh
Don’t mind the dropping of JJ but Daniel??!!! What is mister HM smoking? Potgieter is somewhere far below Daniel in skill and ability!
Agree with Mark, Jacques Potgieter is one dimensional and the All BLacks will target players like him to double hit and contest their rucks! Think someone like Strauss (Lions Caption) would have been better option – he is so strong in both attack and defense and a hard worker! Strongly feel that Heyneke should pick Hougaard on wing with the finesse and direction of Pienaar at 9. I still believe the best position for frans steyn is fullback and that Lambie would be better option than kirchner! I would pick Craig Burden at hooker as he covers a lot of ground! Goosen deserves a go at flyhalf (but main thing is to adapt game plan)
Well selecting Flo is a step in the right direction. And the same goes for Duane although he might not last 80 mins but is the only spes 8.
On Goosen, I am super excited about the young man but Naka might be right he would have benefited a lot from a few more CC games. Anyhow can’t see Meyer dropping Steyn.
If Daniel was still in the team then mine would have been:
1. Beast
2. Strauss (c)
3. Jannie
4. Alberts
5. Eben Etsebeth
6. Louw
7. Marcell
8. Duane
9. Ruan
10. Patrick
11. Mvovo
12. Frans
13. Juan
14. Bryan
15. Kirchner
16. Tiaan
17. Pat
18. Juandré
19. Daniel
20. Jano
21. Johan
22. Hougaard
IMO Vermeulen and Goosen should not have been selected for the overseas leg. They need game-time in the Currie Cup. They should have been picked for the home tests only !!
I’m extremely satisfied with the inclusion of Francois Louw. Quite strange that Meyer remarked about the injuries to among others Brussouw. Did he not say that he (HB) conceded too many penalties ?
Keegan Daniel had a raw deal – was only given one start and then 20 minutes off the bench and now he has been dropped
Don’t know why we need to call up players, when we only need to drop two . . . . nl. Potgieter and Kirchner!
The prospect of Johan and Duane playing are exciting though!