The Bok training squad for next week’s camp in Durban has been announced, with Sharks prop Wiehahn Herbst among the new players included.
Heyneke Meyer has named a group of 38 players, with Gio Aplon, Trevor Nyakane (prop), Lappies Labuschagne (loose forward), Willie le Roux (fullback/wing), JJ Engelbrecht (centre/wing), Lionel Mapoe (wing/centre), Herbst and Demetri Catrakilis (Southern Kings, flyhalf) the new faces added.
Ten Sharks players, in all, have made the grade and there’s a little bit of a surprise there, as out-of-favour eighthman Ryan Kankowski has been included, while the man who’s keeping him out of the Sharks squad, Keegan Daniel, is not.
Players invited to the second Springbok training camp of 2013:
Forwards (19): Tendai Mtawarira, Trevor Nyakane, Jannie du Plessis, Coenie Oosthuizen, Wiehahn Herbst, Adriaan Strauss, Bismarck du Plessis, Chiliboy Ralepelle, Eben Etzebeth, Flip van der Merwe, Juandré Kruger, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Siya Kolisi, Marcell Coetzee, Willem Alberts, Arno Botha, Lappies Labuschagne, Pierre Spies, Ryan Kankowski.
Backs (19): Jano Vermaak, Francois Hougaard, Pat Lambie, Morné Steyn, Elton Jantjies, Demetri Catrakilis, Jean de Villiers, Juan de Jongh, Jan Serfontein, Robert Ebersohn, JJ Engelbrecht, Bryan Habana, Lwazi Mvovo, Raymond Rhule, Lionel Mapoe, Bjorn Basson, Gio Aplon, Zane Kirchner, Willie le Roux.
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Good on you Kanko….
What was plum on about?
Unless the initial request to drop Kankowski maybe came from a higher power than Plum?
Great news for Wors. Also happy to see Lappies there but still no Brussow?
Willie le Roux made it and also Catrakilis!
Interesting
So Kanko not in good enough form for the boks but not for the sharks? What the hell?
And congrats Herbst! He’s worked hard to get there, he deserves it!
Good on Kanko.
That is a better squad than his first one. At least he has got rid of Franco v/d Merwe and Pat Cilliers. Great to see Labascagne, JJ Engelbrecht and Willie le Roux added.
The continued omission of Brussouw is pathetic really. Kankowski ahead of Philip v/d Walt is laughable. Other notable omissions are Piet v/Zyl, Elstadt, Kitshoff and Lood de Jager. I presume Malherbe has lost out due to injury as he was in the first squad and been in great form
Congrats Wors hope you keep up the good work!!!!!!!
Would have thought Piet van Zyl would have been included too..
Geluk Wors! en natuurlik al die ander manne van die Sharks!
I am a huge Elton fan but we should be picking on form and we really don’t need a fourth flyhalf do we? Happy Aplon and Lappies are in.
The most scintillating attacking player currently in South Africa has made it ,and thats all I care about…
Willie Le Roux ,the rapier
Next will be Cooper ,once Chili decides he wants to seewhooplay elsewhere
What are peoples thoughts of playing a guy like Lappies at 8 or even 6? He is one of the more flexible flankers out there. I think his general game could full any role in that loose forward trio.
Well done Wiehan! this makes me happy! Already have tickets for the Italian game (obviously)! Most are good merit selections, HM has surprised me, but lets wait till he trims the squad before I get too excited.
No Heinrich Brussouw? Who`s going to contest the breakdowns? All the loosies are ball runners… Maybe everything will come down to PS du toit.
@VanWilder (Comment 14) : And don’t forget poor bismark also good fetcher
Well done Wors!!! Definitely deserves his spot
@sharks4eve2013 (Comment 15) : agreed, but it will take a few weeks before Bissie will be at his best.
Brussouw is taking on a leadership role at the cheetahs and anyone can see how he`s growing week-by-week. I guess it would not take much to lure him to europe now.
@Ice (Comment 8) : Inclined to agree with you. HM is being a real knob by continuing to ignore Brüssow. It may come back to bite him on the ass. He may get away with it against Scotland, but against the Wobblies and NZ, you need a out and out fetcher.
Although I’m sure Kanko is baffled by Plumtree and his reasons for not playing him. One thing’s for sure – he is having a laugh today
He should email that training squad list to Plum 😮 😉
@KingCheetah (Comment 18) : Yes he seems to have a real vendetta against Brussow! Seems nothing he does impresses him.
Good inclusions of Willie, Herbst, Lappies and Nyakane…good form.
All in all a better squad…looses still lack balance. BRUSSOW!
good on KANKO!!! One good thing about HM is that he sticks with what he believes…unlike PDivvy. Not that I agree with all his ideas.
Lekker Herbst!!
Well, we all know that Kanko is not out of form. It is simply Plum’s brain that has rotten a bit.
Glad to see Lappies in the group – he has been phenomenal!
Well done Wors, he’ll rock th all day long.
I have a sneaky suspicion that Kanko will play this week. Seems HM has a soft spot for our boy the Hoff.
Judging by the lack of Sharks players in the Springbok backline, it is no wonder the Sharks have lost all attacking flair.
Frans Steyn and JP would normally have been there, I suspect even Ludik would have had a shot and Whitehead could have been the dark horse.
Breaking news – Wiehahn Herbst included as a center. Following his dummy against the chiefs, Heyneke Meyer was quoted as saying “What skill, I haven’t seen that much skill from a South african back all season.” He’s expected to start at inside center where his straight running will be an asset to any springbok team :p
@VanWilder (Comment 17) : Have to agree we’ll see how bissie does come saterday and don’t know way HM didn’t pick brussow can u imagen the likes of him with bissie and psdt
Why the hell do we have 4 flyhalves? Morne Steyn should play fullback, he would be awesome there for the Boks! I don’t think Kanko will get into the match day 23 as long as Spies is fit. I was going to complain about how few Sharks backs there are, but then I realized that the 2 of them are the only fit ones who deserve a call-up. I’m not sure I understand the inclusion on Jantjies or Catrakilis. Jantjies has barely played and when he has he has been average at best. Catrakilis has been alright but has he really shown enough to warrant even training with the national team? Pat Lambie to start with Morne Steyn offering cover from fullback with Kirchner on the bench.
@David12246 (Comment 26) : Way kirchner on the bench he has done nothing I’ll play le roux fullback and drop steyn completely catrakilis kicking and running is far better than morne
@David12246 (Comment 26) : Way kirchner on the bench he has done nothing I’ll play le roux fullback with raain or joe pieterson and drop steyn completely catrakilis kicking and running is far better than morne
@byron (Comment 24) : 😆
@David12246 (Comment 26) : Yeah right, Morne is hardly blessed with attacking skills, imagine how boring he would be there. Imagine him joining the line at pace or launching a counter attack – heaven help us
@Saffex (Comment 6) : glad you mention Van der Walt. Seriously think he is the most rounded 8 in SA.
Yip, most obvious omission is Brussouw. Heyneke is probably selecting Kanko based on what he thought he could have done last year had he been available.
And that’s probably what plum should have done too. Kanko was a little anonymous in the first few rounds, but he didn’t make any glaring mistakes. Given the backing of his coach and a few more games he might have just been what the Sharks needed to hang on to a few wins or even snatch them away in a couple of games.
Plum should be ashamed of how he treated a Sharks player that has been great for us over the years.
Now let’s see how good I know HM. Think his Bok team will be: 15 Kirchner, 14 Basson, 13 JJ, 12 Jean (c), 11 Habana, 10 Steyn, 9 Hougaard, 8 Spies, 7 Alberts, 6 Marcell, 5 Kruger, 4 Eben, 3 Jannie, 2 Strauss(vc), 1 Beast, 16 Bizzy/Chilli, 17 Coenie, 18 Nyakane, 19 Flip, 20 Kanko, 21 Jano, 22 Lambie, 23 Mvovo/Rhule.
Jean needs to retire after this year, seriously.
@Letgo (Comment 32) : I think Kankos problem is KD as no8 and captain.
@JD (Comment 33) : I reckon you are right, but I suspect Louw will be at 6 and Serfontein will be on the bench
Well done Wiehahn. Must be one of the best tightheads in the country. Glad he’s getting a looking into.
@Saffex (Comment 30) : @sharks4eve2013 (Comment 27) : I agree that Le Roux could be a nice option. His problem is that he is all over the place, which works for the Cheetahs but wouldn’t for the Boks. Honestly, Kirchner sucks just as much as Steyn at counter attacking. The difference is, Steyn passes more and would be able to exploit the wingers more.
@David12246 (Comment 38) : I hear you then rather play lambie fullback where I think he belongs and make catrakilis flyhalf I know steyn is good not taking it away from him but we need a new young flyhalf cause goosen will be better when he returns and thinking goosen and lambie well combine better and lambie’s defends is briliant
@David12246 (Comment 38) : Nonsense, Morne would be absolutely useless at 15. Kirchner may be in poor form but he at least knows how to run with ball in hand.
Willie le Roux is the obvious choice at 15. There is no reason in the world his talents should not be embraced at test level
Just for fun my bok team out of the players of HM: 15 Basson, 14 le Roux, 13 JJ, 12 Serfontein, 11 Mvovo, 10 Pat, 9 Jano, 8 Spies, 7 Alberts, 6 Kolisi, PSDT, 4 Eben, 3 Herbst, 2 Strauss, 1 Beast, 16 Bizzy, 17 Coenie, 18 Jannie, 19 Lappies, 20 Marcell, 21 Hougaard, 22 Demetri, 23 Eberson.
Thank god he included some of the new faces. I was worried we’d end up seeing the likes of Wille le Roux playing for a Northern Hemisphere country in a few years. Hopefully these players will now want to commit to the Springboks. 😀
It’s probably safe to say we can add at least Ruan Pienaar and Francois Louw to this list, maybe more?
@SeanyJMc (Comment 43) : yes, I think it’s safe
@Saffex (Comment 40) : Ha! Go on YouTube and I challenge you to find one instance where Kirchner has shown good running ability. I agree that he is consistent and he kicks like a demon (so does Steyn) but he cannot run creatively, and he refuses to pass to the player in a better position. Even Steyn is a better runner, and even THAT you can find in the highlight archives. I agree that Le Roux should probably be playing, but he needs to make some adjustments if he wants to play Bok rugby.
@David12246 (Comment 45) : run less, kick more.
@robdylan (Comment 46) : If you are referring to my Le Roux comment, then not really. I would say he needs to clean up his game. He is too all over the place for test rugby. Le Roux does a fair amount of kicking anyway.
@David12246 (Comment 47) : well if le roux is not going to work HM options are zane raain or joe and that’s it in my mind le roux will work better becuase of his work rate and when he kicks it’s a 50\50 chance of winning the ball back my opinion and to be honest don’t like don’t rate zane only time I liked him when he was playing for griekwas
Kanko must be laughing his ass off…