Ou Grote Rugby

What the players said (Backs)

Jean de Villiers:

“In a way it made us stronger as a squad. I’ve seen how much we’ve grown as a squad since that loss to Argentina. There will always be critics, and I think it’s because people want the Boks to do well. And that’s good if it’s coming from the heart. I’m open to that.”

Rudy Paige:

“I wouldn’t want to say it was a total surprise, the coach did say from the beginning that there was a plan for me, and I’ve been with the squad for a while. But I’m obviously just thrilled with the selection. I had a feeling because I had been training with the team and have been in the mix, although it’s human nature to have some doubts in the back of your head. I couldn’t believe my dream was coming true when Heyneke gave me the news. I can’t wait to put the green and gold on, it’s going to be a massive honour to get that first cap when the opportunity arrives. It’s going to be a great challenge at the World Cup, and personally I’m just so happy to have been included and to be taking on a challenge I haven’t experienced before.”

Fourie du Preez:

“I’d love to be able to say, “Yes, I’m much better than I was in 2007 and 2011″, but to be honest, I’m probably not. Age does have an effect, and there have been some injury setbacks. But I think I’ve learned a lot over the last few years, and that I now make better decisions and can perhaps help the team a lot more in different ways than I could previously. I can’t say I’m 100% confident [about my fitness], but I’m working towards that goal and still have two weeks of training to go. It’s still a bit of a process for me to get to where I want to be, but I’m confident I’ll get there. I’ve worked really hard to get here. My plan was to hopefully play in a couple of Rugby Championship games and play myself into the team, and although that couldn’t happen in the end, I’ll continue to work very hard and hopefully I’ll still have the opportunity to get myself into the form I want to be.”

Transformation

The government is happy for now, but big changes coming after the World Cup.

Mark Alexander (SARU Spokesperson):

“We’re happy with where we are with our transformation initiative. We signed an agreement with the government and Sascoc. We’re on track. We can do better, but we are happy with where we are at the moment. I’d like to ask the country to get behind this team. This country needs a good story, and this team winning the World Cup would be a good story.”

Tony Ehrenreich (COSATU Spokesperson):

“It’s clearly a more representative team than we ever had, although what we now want to see is the players on the field playing and they are not there to carry the bags of the white players. This is a great day for South African rugby and it’s unfortunate that it comes after pressure from a large part of the society but it’s a move in the right direction. Although we want to state on record that this is the start of the transformation that we want and we are going to be embarking on a radical programme for transformation in rugby as soon as the players and administration return from the world cup.”

The Springbok World Cup Squad 2015