Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer announced his end of year 32 man touring squad earlier today which comprised of 4 uncapped players, and the return of 3 World Cup winning stalwarts.Western Province hooker, Siyabonga "Scarra" Ntubeni will taste the Springbok environment for the first time while prop Frans Malherbe, scrumhalf Louis Schreuder, lock Peter-Steph Du Toit are the other uncapped players in the group who have been in the Springbok set-up before. World Cup winning centre Jacques Fourie returns to the Bok fray after he included a clause in his club contract with his Japanese side that makes him available for Springbok selection. The other notable inclusions in the squad are that of JP Pieterson and Bakkies Botha for the 3 tests in the UK.
Wales, Scotland and France better prepare themselves for some bruising test matches against this world class Springbok squad which has incredible depth across every position. The return of Botha in the side should no doubt scare these nations purely for his abrasive no nonsense style of play, coupled with the experience Jacques Fourie brings to the Bok fray is enough to give these three Northern Hemisphere nations endless headaches. The big talking point though is the omission of Castre's scrumhalf Rory Kockett who has been in superb form for his French top 14 side this season both in general play and more notably with his dead accurate boot in high pressure situations. There was no room for Kockett in the scrumhalf list that comprises of the mercurial Fourie Du Preez, Ruan Pienaar and Louis Schreuder, the latter had a nightmare Currie Cup final at Newlands on Saturday. The disturbing part of Kockett's omission is that it will no doubt force him to choose to play for France should the opportunity present itself in the near future, something that I think is a major disappointment from Kockett's point of view and South Africans at large.
Johann Goosen and Gio Aplon also return to the Bok mix, the former having successfully returned from injury during the Currie Cup. Im still cracking my head though as what kind of criteria Meyer used in the selection of Goosen who like Frans Steyn only played two Currie Cup matches this year since returning from injury, but the latter missed out on selection. My only guess is that both Frans Steyn and Demetri Catrakillis are on the injury list as they gingerly walked off the Newlands pitch on Saturday. Sure Goosen brings an x factor vibe to the mix but dont we have enough of that in Pat Lambie ? I wouldve liked to see Catrakillis go on tour, he wouldve been great goal kicking cover for Morne Steyn with his accurate boot.
I have no further qualms over this Springbok squad, it possesses a great blend of youth and heaps of experience and should win all three tests in the Northern Hemisphere.
