Business Day (Johannesburg)
Zeena Isaacs
3 November 2009
Johannesburg — SPRINGBOK flank Heinrich Brüssow, lock Danie Rossouw and flyhalf Ruan Pienaar will be heavily relied on to provide stability and class to the South African team when they line up against Leicester on Friday at Welford Road in the opening game of their UK tour.
The three were among 10 players named in a quality starting line-up for the clash. Another two, utility back Meyer Bosman and prop Heinke van der Merwe, will provide cover on the bench.
Hooker Chiliboy Ralepelle, who was named in a strong tight five with props Gurthrö Steenkamp and Jannie du Plessis and locks Rossouw and Andries Bekker, will captain the side in the town where he led the Springbok XV against the World XV in 2006. Ironically, Ralepelle's selection comes less than a week after he was excluded from the Blue Bulls squad for the Currie Cup final after failing to recover sufficiently from a stress fracture in his foot.
Brüssow's selection, in particular, raised eyebrows as he was the only regular starter in the Bok team this year, raising doubts about his position in the Test side that is due to depart for France early next week.
Flank Schalk Burger and No8 Pierre Spies and Ryan Kankowski were the loose forwards set to remain in SA this week with the other 12 players considered to be part of the Test team.
But Spies was ruled out of the tour late last night after having surgery to a finger he injured during yesterday's training session. Sharks flank Jean Deysel has been called up to replace him.
The group remaining in SA includes locks Victor Matfield and Bakkies Botha, Bok skipper John Smit and flyhalf Morné Steyn. Steyn's inclusion means he will in all likelihood start at flyhalf ahead of Pienaar in the Test team.
Bok coach Peter de Villiers gave little away on his plans for Brüssow on the UK tour.
"All the players who are representing their country on Friday will be available for the Test side. But it depends on themselves. This is a full- on Springbok side and includes combinations we think will be best to build momentum going into the first Test," he said.
The new faces in Friday's starting XV are flank Dewald Potgieter -- who captained the Emerging Springboks against the British and Irish Lions earlier this year -- Cheetahs No8 Ashley Johnson, Bulls scrumhalf Heini Adams and Western Province centre Juan de Jongh, while Earl Rose was named at fullback.
On the bench, the selection of Van der Merwe raised the most questions as the player had been on the sideline since April with a knee injury. But De Villiers was not concerned about his lack of game time and said he had been working with Springbok conditioning coach Neels Liebel for the past three months to get him into top shape. "We worked hard to simulate game situations for him to train in, although we know one can never substitute game time," said De Villiers.
On his comments at the weekend that he might move Van der Merwe from loosehead to tighthead, De Villiers said: "If we become rigid in what we want to do, we will never elevate to the level we want to be at. Sometimes we take chances and it comes off.
"We know the quality of player he is, and he is looking forward to the challenge," he said.
The centre pairing of Wynand Olivier and De Jongh, in particular, will pose a great danger to Leicester's backs since both players are playmakers with an eye for the smallest gaps in the defence.
The Bok loose trio of Johnson, Potgieter and Brüssow will also be one of the combinations to keep an eye on since they can contest on the ground, are hard runners on attack and will have extra speed, with Johnson on form.
SPRINGBOK TEAM:
Earl Rose; Odwa Ndungane, Juan de Jongh, Wynand Olivier, Jongi Nokwe; Ruan Pienaar, Heini Adams; Ashley Johnson, Dewald Potgieter, Heinrich Brüssow; Andries Bekker, Danie Rossouw; Jannie du Plessis, Chiliboy Ralepelle (capt), Gurthrö Steenkamp.
Reserves: Bandise Maku, Heinke van der Merwe, Alistair Hargreaves, Davon Raubenheimer, Francois Hougaard, Meyer Bosman, Riaan Viljoen.
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