Ross Cronje has been ruled out of the New Zealand test tomorrow and will be replaced in the starting line up by Francois Hougaard.
Cronje has been ruled out as a result of illness and will miss the key match between the Springboks and New Zealand in Albany this Saturday. Rudy Paige moves onto the bench and is set to earn his 9th cap.
The revised Springbok side to face the All Blacks in Albany:
15. Andries Coetzee (Emirates Lions), 6 caps, 0 points
14. Raymond Rhule (Toyota Cheetahs), 6 caps, 5 points (1 try)
13. Jesse Kriel (Vodacom Bulls), 22 caps, 30 points (6 tries)
12. Jan Serfontein (Vodacom Bulls), 32 caps, 20 points (4 tries)
11. Courtnall Skosan (Emirates Lions), 6 caps, 5 points (1 try)
10. Elton Jantjies (Emirates Lions), 17 caps, 179 points (2 try, 32 conversions, 35 penalties)
9. Francois Hougaard (Worcester Warriors, England) 45 caps, 25 points (5 tries)
8. Uzair Cassiem (Toyota Cheetahs) 4 caps, 5 points (1 try)
7. Jean-Luc du Preez (Cell C Sharks), 7 caps, 5 points (1 try)
6. Siya Kolisi (DHL Stormers), 22 caps, 20 points (4 tries)
5. Franco Mostert (Emirates Lions), 12 caps, 0 points
4. Eben Etzebeth (captain, DHL Stormers), 60 caps, 15 points (3 tries)
3. Ruan Dreyer (Emirates Lions), 1 cap, 0 points
2. Malcolm Marx (Emirates Lions), 8 caps, 10 points (2 tries)
1. Tendai Mtawarira (Cell C Sharks), 93 caps, 10 points (2 tries)
Replacements:
16. Bongi Mbonambi (DHL Stormers), 10 caps, 0 points
17. Steven Kitshoff (DHL Stormers), 16 caps, 0 points
18. Trevor Nyakane (Vodacom Bulls), 31 caps, 5 points (1 try)
19. Lood de Jager (Vodacom Bulls), 30 caps, 20 points (4 tries)
20. Pieter-Steph du Toit (DHL Stormers), 26 caps, 20 points (4 tries)
21. Rudy Paige (Vodacom Bulls), 8 caps, 5 points (1 tries)
22. Handré Pollard (Vodacom Bulls), 20 caps, 188 points (2 tries, 29 conversions, 37 penalties, 3 drop goals)
23. Damian de Allende (DHL Stormers), 24 caps, 15 points (3 tries)
Tweet
Hougaard has not impressed as a scrummy. Looping pass and takes 3 steps before passing.
@StevieS (Comment 1) : What time is kick off sa time?
I feel for some of the 9s playing well and not being picked. They may not be everyones cup of tea but hard to deny guys like Shaun Venter and Louis Schreuder are playing good rugby at the moment. Even the Griquas 9 -Meyer i think is playing well.
@DuToit04 (Comment 2) : Who cares record it and if by some miracle we win, watch it after you know the result,again and again, if not watching Game of Thrones series 8 again is well worth it.
@SheldonK (Comment 3) : Are you talking about Tian Meyer,who we chased away from here at about the same time as Ross Cronje and Rory Kockert because we had seen the future and it was a glorious one, with the twin suns of Reinarch and Macleod
@The hound (Comment 5) : No its not Tiaan- Tiaan still at the Cheetahs and comes on for Venter. Tiaan is still good but think his best rugby is behind him unfortunately. The Griquas guy looks and plays a bit like Faf De Klerk but a more accurate pass. Speaking of De Klerk though i see he is playing fairly well for Sale
@DuToit04 (Comment 2) : I think it’s at 9:35.
@SheldonK (Comment 6) : That Griquas scrummy has genuine pace. He outpaced the Bulls wings.
@StevieS (Comment 7) : kick off is 9:30/35 best switch on 9:20
but as usual nz will school coetzee
So the very best strike rate on offer in our team is 6 tries in 22 games; a measly 27%. Not exactly awe-inspiring stuff.
@Dunx (Comment 8) : I’ll be cleaning up for a community project, so I’ll follow The Hound’s advice and watch the replay later.
I’m just hoping the Boks surprise us all.
This is going to be a joke. I’m not wasting my time. I’ll catch the (predictable) result later.
@StevieS (Comment 10) : what did you get done for?
@robdylan (Comment 12) : 😆
Regarding the rugby, I’ll talk after I see which Elton shows up, he’s so inconsistent and now he’s been paired with Hougaard. Recipe for a 1st phase fuck up, if we make it to one phase that is. No mobility in the 2nd half from the bench either, have the coaches not seen how NZ play the last 20mins? 🙄
@Quintin (Comment 13) : In fact, that might be one of the worst benches I’ve seen us have in a long time.
@Quintin (Comment 14) : And you ve seen your fair share of benches during your community park clean up time
@The hound (Comment 15) : That is very sharp mate
You think we will take the Kwasse later? Haven’t really watched a whole lot of CC thus far.
@Quintin (Comment 16) : Its a pretty nothing game, team should go on the field with one thing in mind keep the injuries to a minimum
@The hound (Comment 17) : Im not so sure, I think we better be focused, they could catch us off guard and beat us