Year: 2012

Springbok 32 man squad for the 2012 test series against England.

FAQ

What’s the game plan?
Backline coach Ricardo Loubscher: “We have to earn the right to go wide. We are going to play directly and attack the 10-12 channel. So obviously the wings won’t get the ball in the early phases. If we create overlap opportunities we’ll be in business. We have a philosophy that we believe in. Our job is to get in behind the pack of forwards and to get guys to finish from there.”

How many from each province?
Bulls 13 / Sharks 11 / Stormers 3 / Lions 2 / Cheetahs 2 / Overseas 1

What? Only 3 players from SA’s top Super 15 side?
Allister Coetzee will be looking forward to the rest of the Super 15 with his fresh / discarded players

Who are the uncapped players?
Flank Marcell Coetzee (MC: “You don’t want to think about it like that (being picked ahead of Brüssow), but Heinrich’s a very respected player. What he’s done for South African rugby is enormous. I respect him a lot and I’m sure he’ll come back fighting. It (my selection) shows the belief the coach has in me and hopefully I won’t disappoint. England bring a real physical presence which you could see when they played the Barbarians last week. They’re a new, young squad with lots of enthusiasm. We clearly won’t underestimate them. They like to play with their forwards and they like to take the ball up and attack the gain-line. Their backline seems to have a new dimension to it with a bit of flair. We will do our studies on them but we would focus on ourselves rather than the opposition.”), wing JJ Engelbrecht, lock Eben Etzebeth (EE: “I was so ecstatic, there was a tear rolling down. It was by far the best day of my life. I don’t know what to expect. It’s going to be physical, it’s going to be hard and tough. That’s Test match rugby and hopefully I get my chance. They’ve been quite good this year. I saw them playing against the Barbarians last weekend when they put up quite a good performance. It will be a tough series.”), flyhalf Elton Jantjies, lock Juandré Kruger, prop Coenie Oosthuizen, flank Jacques Potgieter, lock Franco van der Merwe, scrumhalf Jano Vermaak.

What the hell are they doing there?
Wynand Olivier, Zane Kirchner and Ryan Kankowski

Where the hell are?
Heinrich Brussow (HM: “That was a tough call because Heinrich is still up with the best opensides in the game, but the game has changed. They’re being penalised more and hookers are stealing more ball now. If the laws change, which they will, then he’ll definitely be in the mix. But at the moment it’s up to him to adapt to the laws.”), Juan de Jongh, Gio Aplon, Siya Kolisi and Peter Grant?

I guess there’s nothing we can do about…
Pierre Spies, Flip van der Merwe, Ruan Pienaar

What happened to…
Fourie du Preez – wasn’t he offered the captaincy?
(HM: “I have a lot of respect for Fourie but he knows my motto is team first. I had a few meetings with him and he said he wasn’t 100 percent sure he’s at his best, having not played for two-and-a-half months. It was a hard decision to leave him out but it shows the character of the man that he told me to go with the youngsters if I felt he was a 50-50 selection. I will now chat to the senior players before naming my captain.”) Jean de Villiers has been named as captain for the 3 test series against England.

What did Heyneke Meyer say?
‘We were always looking to start the season with an experienced squad to face England, but injuries to certain players and the non-availability of others have made it difficult.

‘What we’ve lost in experience, we’ve made up in passion and desire to play for the Springboks. We have put together a squad with a nice balance between a number of veterans and players with less experience as we start to build for the rest of the season.

‘Working with these players during our four planning camps this season has been great and really made a very difficult selection process a bit easier. There were a few unlucky players that didn’t make it and they will get opportunities in future as long as they keep on knocking on the door.

‘The nine uncapped players have all put up their hands during Super Rugby this year and we know they have what it takes to succeed at the highest level. We realise that it is impossible to please everyone when it comes to selecting squads like these, but we would really like to see the entire country stand behind us as we take on England.’

The Squad

• Willem Alberts
• Bjorn Basson
• Marcell Coetzee
• Keegan Daniel
• Jean de Villiers (Captain)
• Bismarck du Plessis (VC)
• Jannie du Plessis
• JJ Engelbrecht
• Eben Etzebeth
• Bryan Habana
• Francois Hougaard
• Elton Jantjies
• Ryan Kankowski
• Zane Kirchner
• Juandré Kruger
• Werner Kruger
• Patrick Lambie
• Tendai Mtawarira
• Lwazi Mvovo
• Wynand Olivier
• Coenie Oosthuizen
• Ruan Pienaar
• JP Pietersen
• Jacques Potgieter
• Chiliboy Ralepelle
• Pierre Spiesv
• Frans Steyn
• Morné Steyn
• Adriaan Strauss
• Flip van der Merwe
• Franco van der Merwe
• Jano Vermaak

Backs: Marais Schmidt, Dillyn Leyds, Travis Ismaiel, Raymond Rhule, Tshotsho Mbovane, William Small-Smith, Paul Jordaan, Patrick Howard, Jan Serfontein, Tony Jantjies, Handrè Pollard, Vian van der Watt, Abrie Griesel.

Forwards: Wiaan Liebenberg (c), Shaun Adendorff, Khaya Majola, Braam Steyn, Fabian Booysen, Pieter Steph du Toit, Ruan Botha, Paul Willemse, Marvin Orie, Maks van Dyk, Allan Dell, Oliver Kebble, Steven Kitshoff, Mark Pretorius, Jason Thomas.

2012 Junior World Cup Fixtures
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Former South Africa coach Nick Mallet has expressed concerns that new coach Heyneke Meyer’s philosophies could impede on some of the players’ creativity, (more…)