Sharks wing Lwazi Mvovo and Sevens star cum Worcester scrumhalf Francois Hougaard are the new faces to the Springbok group that is set to tour Australia and New Zealand.
Mvovo comes in for the injured Ruan Combrinck, who has been ruled out of the rest of the Championship with a broken leg. Hougaard was originally in the Springbok squad announced for the Championship but was struggling with a knee injury and subsequently not considered for the Argentina games. Both players may be considered for the gap left by Combrinck, seeing as Hougaard was originally listed as a utility backline player.
Elton Jantjies, who we mentioned was struggling with a tight groin, has been cleared to tour, but his availability for the first match against Australia remains to be seen.
Springbok touring squad:
Forwards: Lourens Adriaanse, Lood de Jager, Pieter-Steph du Toit, Eben Etzebeth, Steven Kitshoff, Vincent Koch, Jaco Kriel, Francois Louw, Malcolm Marx, Bongi Mbonambi, Oupa Mohoje, Franco Mostert, Tendai Mtawarira, Trevor Nyakane, Adriaan Strauss (captain), Warren Whiteley
Backs: Damian de Allende, Juan de Jongh, Faf de Klerk, Johan Goosen, Bryan Habana, Francois Hougaard, Elton Jantjies, Jesse Kriel, Lionel Mapoe, Lwazi Mvovo, Rudy Paige, Morne Steyn
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Anyone betting against this starting side to play against Oz: Beast,Strauss,Koch,DeJager, Etzebeth, Louw, Mahoje,Whiteley, DeKlerk, Jantjies, Habana, DeAllende,Mapoe, Kriel, Goosen….
@SheldonK (Comment 1) : ai jai jai .. not good
@SheldonK (Comment 1) :
You reckon they would include two extra wings and play a centre/fullback on the wing instead?
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 3) : I reckon Kriel could start on the wing with DeJongh coming into the match day side. There could be changes but going on his past selections i dont expect many if any.
@SheldonK (Comment 4) :
I agree with 14 players you mention, just don’t think he would play Kriel on the wing. But it could happen, we just never know..
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 5) : You reckon Mvovo will slot in there? Hougaard just gone as scrummy cover nothing more. Same as Marx as hooker cover.
@SheldonK (Comment 6) :
I reckon Mvovo could very well get a shot.
Hougaard was listed as a Utility back in the SARU correspondence, so I won’t rule him out on wing, but it would be a long shot seeing as he hasn’t played there in a while..
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 7) : Im just anticipating a very uninspired selection. As they say…doing the same thing and hoping for a different result…
@SheldonK (Comment 8) :
But it is against different opposition, so the result should be different 😈
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 9) : And thats his thinking right there…
So Chadwick of to France, guess it was only a matter of time.
I know my view will not be very popular on here, but Mvovo is severely overrated by the Sharks faithful in my opinion. I would have taken Sergeal Petersen ahead of him.
@KingRiaan (Comment 11) : ja on his current form it’s sad news indeed!
@Ben (Comment 12) : Mvovo is a very good player when on form but sadly he’s not on form so ja maybe time to give someone else a go.
@SheldonK (Comment 8) : ja sad to say can’t see any other changes than injury in forced changes.
I knew he would call mvovo back. As for hougaard, well how many options does he have? AC is drowning man. We could well be witnessing the shortest stint as bok coach ever.
@coolfusion (Comment 16) : going to be though to break Carel du Plessis and Andre Markgraaf rekord! 😉
Kriel 13 Mapoe 14 more like it. He won’t make a mistake and play Kriel at wing again after that experiment gone wrong by HM. Besides, Mapoe and Damien are no combination.
@JD (Comment 17) : And the other guy Jannie Viljoen I think he also did a very short tour.
@coolfusion (Comment 16) : The HM disciples are already pining for his return – citing the fact that he has turned down offers from overseas to keep himself available….maybe AC was set-up for failure: very late appointment, little control over who his assistants would be.
Many will be more accepting of an HM return with AC’s mediocre win record….heck, if AC is fired, HM is probably as good as the Boks can lure. 😯
@FireTheLooser (Comment 20) :
Hey, John Smit is available from 1 November 2016…
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 21) : So Smit could have his pick of either Bok coach or saru president – I’d say his future is looking rather rosy/thorny…. 🙂
@FireTheLooser (Comment 22) :
His future might be bright, but the future of Rugby in South Africa might look a little more stormy…
Imagine Smit being SARU president and rocking up at AC’s house, telling him he is fired and bringing back Jake White…
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 23) : How would that be a bad thing?
Unless he proceeds to lose Jake in one year again.
@coolfusion (Comment 24) :
I don’t suspect it would be a good thing…
To play a very high tempo game the Boks would need to select the players with the skillset and conditioning to play that game so id go with the following: 1. Dylan Smith 2. Malcom Marx 3. Louren Adriaanse 4. Franco Mostert 5. PSDT 6. Jaco Kriel 7. Sikumbze Notshe 8. Warren Whiteley 9. Faf De Klerk 10. Elton Jantjies 11. Brian Habana 12. Lionel Mapoe 13. Johan Goosen 14. Francois Hougaard 15. Jesse Kriel (just used players in the squad pretty much)
@SheldonK (Comment 27) :
I thought you had used all players with the inclusion of Dylan Smith, but it would be interesting to see your team made up from any player and not just the current squad..
@coolfusion (Comment 19) : think it was Harry Viljoen.
@Richard Ferguson (Comment 28) : I couldnt think of a mobile loosehead so only he came to mind. Although suppose Kitshoff could possibly fit the role. Think there are a lot of injured guys that would definitely aide the Boks cause and also a couple left out. The scope gets very big so just thought id mainly use who is there
@SheldonK (Comment 27) : @Richard Ferguson (Comment 28) : problems already start with 1 and 2 as neither have a snow balls hope in hell of even making match day 23!
@FireTheLooser (Comment 20) : nee hell … i would rather die than watch another HM coached bok team …
@JD (Comment 29) : That’s him. Very short tenure as I recall he couldn’t cope with the media.