Springbok World Cup heroes Butch James and CJ van der Linde could be facing their former teammates in a warm-up match in May.
Both James and Van der Linde have been confirmed as targets for Namibia’s Invitation XV that will give the Springboks their only warm-up match before their Test series against the Lions.
Afrikaans Sunday newspaper Sondag confirmed that the duo were being asked to join the Namibian side to give Springbok coach Peter de Villiers a chance to assess them before naming his side for the Lions series.
Both James and Van der Linde play in Europe, and therefore technically won’t be considered for the Springbok line-up. Van der Linde previously sent a plea to De Villiers to consider him, even though he plays for Irish club Leinster.
James has a three year contract with Bath, but with no clear front runner for the flyhalf position, there have been calls for his return.
According to a spokesman for the Namibian Rugby Union, the Bok duo are likely to play alongside a handful of Namibian players who currently ply their trade in the Currie Cup and Super 14.
The Namibians likely to be involved in the match include Bulls flank Jacques Burger, Stormers prop Wikus Blaauw and Cheetahs centre Piet van Zyl.
De Villiers also indicated this past week that he was keen to invite a few players to face the Boks to make it a sterner test.
“Namibia are planning to invite international players to take part in the festival,” De Villiers said.
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If Butch is not selected for the Lions series dan weet ek darem nie!!! 🙄
If this actually happens and PdV gives Butch and CJ fair chances then he will just improve my opinion of him even more.
@KSA Shark © (Comment 2) :
I’d hardly call playing them in a team that’ll be on the receiving end of another 100pt drubbing an opportunity…
@bryce_in_oz (Comment 3) :
None of the Bulls or Sharks will be in that bok team, so it will be massively weakened.
Also consider the fact that the reason for including invitation players in the Nam side is to level the playing field a bit.
Considering the fact that the Bulls and Sharks probably won’t be there sort of makes the match not even worth being called a warm-up really
What’s this ‘technically won’t be considered’ nonsense? Either they are or they’re not.
What will a watered down warm-up match show PdV that he doesn’t already know?
@McLovin (Comment 5) : exactly 😛
@McLovin (Comment 5) :
My point exactly (from a Bok point of view)
From James and V d Linde’s point of view it will give them a chance to show they still have what it takes.