Minor changes for Boks - Capital Sports
Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

World

Minor changes for Boks

WELLINGTON, July 13 – Springboks coach Peter de Villiers remained loyal to his side hammered 32-12 in the first Tri-Nations Test against the All Blacks, making only two enforced changes for Saturday's re-match.Veteran tighthead prop CJ van der Linde comes in for the injured Jannie de Plessis and Danie Rossouw replaces Bakkies Botha, who received a nine-week suspension for head-butting All Blacks’ halfback Jimmy Cowan.

De Villiers named his team Tuesday, saying there was no panic in the South African ranks despite the heavy defeat suffered in Auckland at the weekend by his world champions and reigning Tri-Nations titleholders.

"The way you lose is not as important as how you stand up from such a defeat," he said.

"The guys know they didn’t perform well, they remain proud and they realise that they have hard work ahead of them this week."

Sharks backrower Ryan Kankowski comes into the squad and is the only change to the reserves bench for Saturday’s second Test in Wellington.

De Villiers described the four tries-to-nil hiding in the first Test as an off-day and no reason to tinker with his line-up.

"Part of being professional is having to stand up again after those kind of setbacks," he said.

"It won’t happen every day that everybody is one per cent off their game and if you are one per cent off against a team like the All Blacks, then you will get hammered.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

"Our execution was bad, something happened to make us slower off the mark. But we are aware of it."

De Villiers said the All Blacks also deserved credit for the way they played, bouncing back from a 3-0 whitewash by the Springboks last year.

"The All Blacks were very good at the weekend and they did not allow us space to play the way we wanted," he said.

"We can’t look for excuses. The All Blacks were better than us, it’s as simple as that."

The All Blacks, meanwhile, were forced to delay naming their team for the second Test to give injured players a chance to recover.

Utility back Richard Kahui (shoulder) has already been ruled out of Saturday’s match while wing Joe Rokocoko (hamstring) and Cowan (abdomen) remain doubts.

South Africa (15-1)

Zane Kirchner, Jean de Villiers, Jaque Fourie, Wynand Oliver, Bryan Habana, Morne Steyn, Ricky Januarie, Pierre Spies, Francois Louw, Schalk Burger, Victor Matfield, Danie Rossouw, CJ van der Linde, John Smit (captain), Gurthro Steenkamp.

Reserves: Chiliboy Ralepelle, BJ Botha, Andries Bekker, Ryan Kankowski, Ruan Pienaar, Butch James, Gio Aplon.

Advertisement. Scroll to continue reading.

Advertisement

More on Capital Sports

Football

NAIROBI, Kenya, Oct 27 – DStv and GOtv subscribers are in for a treat of the world’s best football this week as the 2020-21...

Football

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 25 – There is light at the end of the tunnel. After failed promises over the last three years since its...

Football

NAIROBI, Kenya, Sep 6 – Gentrix Shikangwa scored with two minutes left as Vihiga Queens sailed to the final of the CECAFA regional qualifiers...

NFL

NAIROBI, Kenya, Aug 13 – Kenya’s history making Daniel Adongo, the first Kenyan to play in America’s National Football League (NFL), is now living...

© 2024 Capital Digital Media. Capital Group Limited. All Rights Reserved