Boks vs Wales - Team sheet (Rohan gets his start)

Rohan Janse van Rensburg, Jamba Ulengo and Uzair Cassiem will make their Springbok debuts against Wales in the Principality Stadium on Saturday, while a fourth uncapped player, Jean-Luc du Preez, has been included on the bench for the final match of the 2016 Castle Lager Outgoing Tour.

Strongly-built inside centre Janse van Rensburg, who takes over from Damian de Allende in a rotational switch, and winger Ulengo, who is in for Bryan Habana, are part of a reshuffled backline announced by Springbok coach Allister Coetzee on Thursday.

Both Janse van Rensburg and Ulengo played for South Africa in the international match against the Barbarians three weeks ago at Wembley Stadium in London, but will now become officially capped Springboks.

Cassiem, who didn’t feature against the Baabaas, will also get his Test debut after Willem Alberts was ruled out because of a neck niggle.

A new-look backline also sees the return of Faf de Klerk (scrumhalf) and Elton Jantjies (flyhalf) as halfback combination, while there is a further change at fullback, with Johan Goosen named to start in the No 15 jersey.

In the other change upfront, Lourens Adriaanse comes in at tighthead in place of Vincent Koch, which means that 14 players who will be based in South Africa for Vodacom Super Rugby in 2017 will start against Wales, with a further seven on the bench.

Coetzee said the revamped side was picked as result of a combination of factors. Apart from rotational changes and injuries, some of the selections were made with the building process towards 2019 in mind. The total amount of caps amongst the backs are 40, the lowest amount since 1994.

“We have a less experienced team, but I want to see some energy and an improved performance. Our selection is also keeping in mind of the process and necessity to build towards 2019,” said Coetzee.

“Uzair was impressive during our domestic competitions and he was man of the match in the Currie Cup final. He made a good impression during the build-up to the Barbarians match and has continued to work hard on this tour since re-joining us.

“Jamba, Uzair and Rohan are examples of players who have forced their way into the squad through consistently performing well on the domestic scene and during training on tour, and now they are getting their opportunities to play for the Boks. Even though Damian played well against England and Italy we felt Rohan deserved an opportunity.

Regarding the change in the front row, the coach added: “Lourens played well whenever he was selected and he too deserves his opportunity.”

Regarding the challenge of facing Wales at home in front of a passionate crowd of 75,000 at the Principality Stadium, Coetzee said he expects another huge battle between the two sides.

“Recent matches between us have always delivered close fought battles and small point margins and I expect more of the same on Saturday,” said Coetzee.

The Springbok team to face Wales on Saturday is:

15. Johan Goosen (Racing 92, France) 12 caps, 25 points
14. Ruan Combrinck (Xerox Golden Lions) 6 caps, 15 points
13. Francois Venter (Toyota Free State Cheetahs) 2 caps, 0 points
12. Rohan Janse van Rensburg (Xerox Golden Lions) 0 caps, 0 points
11. Jamba Ulengo (Vodacom Blue Bulls), 0 caps, 0 points
10. Elton Jantjies (NTT Shining Arcs, Japan) 10 caps, 72 points
9. Faf de Klerk (Xerox Golden Lions), 10 caps, 0 points
8. Warren Whiteley (Docomo Red Hurricanes, Japan) 14 caps, 15 points
7. Uzair Cassiem (Toyota Free State Cheetahs), 0 caps, 0 points
6. Nizaam Carr (DHL Western Province) 4 caps, 0 points
5. Lood de Jager (Vodacom Blue Bulls) 27 caps, 20 points
4. Pieter-Steph du Toit (DHL Western Province), 19 caps, 15 points
3. Lourens Adriaanse (Cell C Sharks) 5 caps, 0 points
2. Adriaan Strauss (captain, Vodacom Blue Bulls), 65 caps, 30 points
1. Tendai Mtawarira (Cell C Sharks) 86 caps, 10 points
Replacements:
16. Malcolm Marx (Xerox Golden Lions) 1 cap, 0 points
17. Steven Kitshoff (Bordeaux, France) 9 caps, 0 points
18. Trevor Nyakane (Vodacom Blue Bulls) 27 caps, 5 points
19. Franco Mostert (Ricoh Black Rams, Japan) 6 caps, 0 points
20. Jean-Luc du Preez (Cell C Sharks) 0 caps, 0 points
21. Piet van Zyl (Vodacom Blue Bulls) 2 caps, 0 points
22. Pat Lambie (Cell C Sharks) 55 caps, 151 points
23. Lionel Mapoe (Kubota Spears, Japan) 10 caps, 0 points

 I dont understand how Adriaanse is even in the squad!
Also so glad to see Paige out of the equation. I bet Mbalula called Coetzee and asked for him to be left out. He is so useless!

 Brycy was right about the above team - with the difference that useless Alberts - never fit failed even a so-called fitness test this morning.   How the useless player got into the squad team is another serious question.
Lets start with the forwards.   Adriaanse to start and Nyakane on the bench.  Both are not even remotely capable and the scrumming will be a mess.  
Then we have the loosies,   Carr is useless and cannot do ball protection and recovery if he is paid to do so.      Cassiem is a massive improvement on Alberts - but he is an open-sider - not a blind-sider - and is played out of position.  
That is the most useless concoction I have seen for a long time.   In the team at least the play-dead wings - Pietersen and Habana is not in the team.   However, that is where the compliments end.   Jantjies has been caving in under pressure and did not have a single good enough game for the Springboks this year.   Goosenn n early never play at full back for his club - yet the dunce makes him full back in the team.   Where is Willie le Roux?   As to the total concoction - if a Springbok backline player scores a try or assist in one - they are certain to be dropped from the team.   Apparently that is the way the idiot coach functions.  
This is by  some distance the worst team selection this year and is clear that for Coetzee only transformation counts - performance counts for nothing. 
Another Springbok loss on the cards - what a bloody fool we have to contend with.     

 Sam Warburton out of Wales side for Sat.

 If we win, and that is a huge if AC will be retained as chief d00s. F or the first time ever I will be shouting against the goats for the good of the Boks.Go Wales by 20.Glad Elton is there to build on his loss ratio.

Pulling names out of a hat. I think that's the selection method employed here.  

You are wrong Pakie. Meyer Bosmans mother told me they draw straws

That is an exciting center combination.

 SB
It is nice to joke about the team - but what is absolutely clear is that Coetzee is clueless about backline play and abilities of backline players.  
He cannot fathom the role of loosies either - so what a farce he makes of selections.
Like my friend Mozart he does not rate players who score tries or assist in scoring tries.  As a matter of fact to score tries is a deadly sin insofar as  Coetzee is concerned.    

 U guys are all off the mark.
Coetzee did not select the team.....he in fact called his cousin in Sydney who made the selection.
Just goes to show that stupidity and ignorance are passed down the gene pool.....unfortunately we are saddled with these folks.
Cannot wait to see their family member at #10 win the game for the Goats.
Vasbyt.

 ...pity there's no room for Willy Le Roux... remember when he was left out of that game against Japan and everything went so pear shaped...big chance for the Lions boys to show their wares though especially with the Lions triumvirate of 9, 10 and 12...and when Mapoe comes on it's almost a complete Lions backline... some big issues with the forwards but still a couple of years before the next RWC to it get it right - doubt whether Coetze will last that long however

 Hope Wales win as at the moment they are dire but as someone said..if there is a way to lose this game Wales will find it.Don't think a game plan exists for both teams.

Coetzee panders to popular opinion. Let's see what happens.

 What popular opinion?   Not much in evidence in this case from most site members and the media - so who is the few who express public opinion in this case.  
Just one remark - no same people want le Roux out of the team and Goosen played out of position - he rarely plays full back for his club - he mostly plays at 13 or 1- when Carter is not available.
  

 What popular opinion?   Not much in evidence in this case from most site members and the media - so who is the few who express public opinion in this case.  
Just one remark - no sane people want le Roux out of the team and Goosen played out of position - he rarely plays full back for his club - he mostly plays at 13 or 10 when Carter is not available.
  

 Quite an interesting backline but not picking Willie shows how daft this coach is - assuming Willie is not injured. Willie is the most creative back we have. Bad error.
Loosies will have enough pace so they should try and run the ball. 

 ...and did'nt Le Roux set up all the tries against Italy ..?..looking forward to watching him playing for Wasps in the Aviva Premiereship in the near future anyway. ..pretty good backline developing there..

Not really....the failed Faf/Jantjies combination.....the flop Venter.....the flop Combrink....the player who lost most ball in the RC Goosen and two unknowns, one of whom, Janse, has performed well enough for a bench start. Not sure I would call that interesting....bizarre might be a more apt description.

Wille Leroux is a must. People underrate his playmaking ability. His individual errors are sometimes high- but he is one of our few players that know how to create space.
If he has players around him, that could think faster- or there were planned backline moves- we would get more tries. 
He is our best backline player regarding contribution to the team's attack.
Whether he is at fullback, wing or even flyhalf, he should be on the pitch.The logical choice was to play Goosen at 10- with Leroux on the wing or at fullback.
This coach is so stupid. Willie Leroux sometimes create the idea that their is attacking plans- through his own understanding of the game.

But already the ever stupid SA rugby press sees positives. Here's uber dumbo Gavin Rich: 'In selecting four new caps and a young team for the final test of the year in Cardiff, Springbok coach Allister Coetzee has drawn a clear line in the sand and sent out the unambiguous message that many have been hoping for since June. The starting team includes just one overseas based player in the form of fullback Johan Goosen, with Steven Kitshoff the only one on the bench, signifying that Coetzee has decided that the days of backing the foreign legion to prop up the Bok team are numbered. Willie le Roux is gone, JP Pietersen is gone, Bryan Habana is gone and had Willem Alberts not been injured he would probably would have been gone too. It may prove a little late in the day in that some of them have accrued rust from not being that active, and others would have lost confidence after a tough year for the Boks, but the coach has shown an indication that he wants to embrace the 'no fear' attitude that saw the Lions make it into the Super Rugby final a few months ago. Inside centre Rohan Janse van Rensburg is one of the new caps and he will slot in alongside his recalled Lions teammate Elton Jantjies in the all-important flyhalf/centre decision-making axis, while Faf de Klerk is back in the No 9 jersey. With Warren Whiteley playing off the back of the scrum, there are Lions players in key positions, and Coetzee made no bones about the fact that he wants to embrace the Lions’ attitude.' ********* Selecting this team might have made sense back in June, given the Lions were our best RC team. But we know enough about Combrink, Venter, Jantjies, Faf, Mostert and Whiteley to know that test rugby is a struggle for them. To the extent several have been dropped or should have been dropped. And now back they come in a supposedly clean sheet team. I guess flavour of the day flops never die, they come back when the coach is sucking up to our dumb rugby fans.

 Bizarre - but for a different reason - players who score tries or assist in scoring of tries are on the blacklist of Coetzee.   Playing players in positions where they rarely played is bizarre.   Even consider lazybones Alberts is bizarre.   

The tell is Coetzee's statement that the team has been selected with the "building process for 2019 in mind"......this is always the first excuse when the coach is completely confused. The best way to build towards 2019 at this late stage of the year would be to win the match and improve our 2019 pool position.

 Mozart
Have to agree with you here.   Coetzee is confused and badly so - there is no team building in that squad.   I cannot imagine the flyhalf being a building block when he plays as badly as he did in all tests this year - just an example, but there are lots of others as well.   Strauss eg is retiring this year - why select him as a "building process"  since he was not good enough this year in tests as well.
Co etzee is indeed clueless and that is becoming clearer by the day.

The logical selections would have been to put Goosen in at 10 ... and Willie at full back ... however even that wouldn't have made much of a difference under this pretender coaching the side. 
He is a fool second to none I know. A complete faak up. 
We have had problems with our back row for the last 6 or so years.Why it's been overlooked for so long is beyond me. It's such an easy fix and would make a massif difference. 
Franscois Louw has never been the answer at 6. He has cost us many matches over the years and that includes the loss to the Japanese. He did however remember his role every third or so match and it made a difference when he did.  
Selecting Carr at 6 is a massif step backwards. Firstly, he doesn't have the physical upper body and hand strength to impose himself at the breakdown. He's a weed. Also playing to the ground is foreign to him. Just another quota finding himself thrown in the deep end. 
Simply put ... he's in over his head and will be exposed as useless ... again. Faak knows what he's doing there. 
The Goats will lose the match once again at the breakdown and Jantjies will contribute to this loss with his usual panic attack.
I hope it's a record thumping ... putting another nail into the quota's coffin is always a good thing.
Goooooooooooo Walessssssssss!!!!

I like the look of the backs, but you could have Joost, Carter, Lomu, O Driscol, Umaga, Campese and Cullen as your back line and under Coetzee they'd be useless. Add to that the fact that they'll get no clean or fast ball compliments of a useless forward pack, and the result is a foregone conclusion. Boks to lose by 14.  

What do you like about them, I'm puzzled.

 Go Bokke go. Go and break another record.

You are wrong Pakie. Meyer Bosmans mother told me they draw straws
Haha, what a blast from the past SB. 

 Coetzee doesnt want to play with his Willy no more and I think we should all respect that .It must take a huuuuge amount of will power [willy-power ?] to not play with yer Willy especially when times are hard and your all tense and frustrated and looking for something to take the edge off.

 Well ... I'll tell you what I like about the backline  ... and the few tweaks I'd make. 
Faff, Jantjies, Ulengo, Janse van Rensburg, Venter, Combrinck, Goosen ... van Zyl, Lambie and Mapoe

I would drop Jantjies from the squad. He doesn't have the temperament to deal with pressure and we cannot afford a melt down in tight situations. It is under this kind of pressure where champions show themselves ... and sadly he's crumbled every time ... even at Super Rugby Level. He is not mentally tough enough ...  no matter the coach.
I would give Goosen a run there and see how he does. Even though he can play at 15 he is not a test full back and I would never select him there. Not even as cover. 
I would allow him to dictate terms from 10. Play the situation. We don't have much options available at 10. It's worth a shot. 
I would also keep an eye on Pollard and draw him in the moment he's fit. Hopefully he'll regain some of the form we saw at junior level. Besides that, he has the potential of taking the captaincy or at least being part of the leadership.
Pat Lambie should be allowed to regain his confidence at Super Rugby level. He's not doing anyone any good at the moment ... least of all himself. 
I would drop the over rated Willie and slot Combrinck in at 15. Mapoe and van Zyl will join Willie and Jantjies on the plane back home.

I would bring Shaun Venter in as well as my wildcard ... the powerful Koch Marx.
I will no doubt include the impressive Harold Vorster as soon as he's available and slot him in at 13, pushing Venter to the bench as he can cover both mid field positions without much effort.    
If I could ... I would have liked to put a guy like Eddie Jones onto them ... have him build them up as a cohesive unit.  
My back line would look something like this ...

15. Combrinck   
14. Marx. 
13. Vorster / Venter   
12. Janse van Rensburg
11. Ulengo
10. Goosen / Pollard
9. Venter / Faff

Funny. You were totally anti Goosen all the way through the domestic test season....panned his performances. Then he got the award from France and without seeing him play again, you became totally convinced he should be the Bok flyhalf.

Coetzee would fail with 9. Wolverine 10. Flash Gordon 11. Invisible Man 12. Juggernaut 13. The Hulk 14. Superman 15. Spiderman as his back line and a bunch of Orcs as his pack. Not even Gandalf can help us I'm afraid. :/

 Mozart
Your constant harping on Goosen is just idiocy.  The player is extremely highly regarded by his club - but eh is not playing at full back at all for them - have not done it for a lng time.
It is idiocy to play a player out of position and then expect miracles from him.   However, Goosen is very good n attacking play and either scores tries or assist in scoring tries regularly.
However, it is clear to me that players who score tries and assist in scoring tries is not rated by you - never have proved that you and Coetzee do regard that ability as a deadly sin.  
Goosen has ball sense - so that put him in a different class from the duds you regularly support.     

 We need a kick-ass leader. Strauss isn't it. Our loosies is a joke, maybe Scalla would not have been the worst idea.

 You forget I saw the weed Goosen play flyhalf a few weeks back against the lowest ranked French team....and totally botch it. Penalty kicks into touch in goal, dropped passes, lost balls, passes behind his centres in try scoring position....yellow card. No thanks.

 Should I be surprised that you need an explanation, Mozart??
Well I am ... so let me clarify as best I can. I will do my best so that even one as slow as you can grasp it.
Now concentrate. I know you tend to doze off whilst in the middle of things (like during $ ex, or driving a car or going for a crap ... sic!!) ... so do me a favour ... give it your best to stay with me. Ok??
Now ... how many fly halves are available for the Boks right now? 

Stay with me now.
We have Marnitz the Magnificent, Elton the Trembler, Morne the Pathetic, Johann the Award winner and Patrick the Awesome Lambie.
Believe it or not but one of them has to run on wearing the Bok 10 jersey. 
We have run out of options at 10 this season. You do know that ... right? Well if not, just take my word for it.
Lambie has lost his mojo, Elton can't stop his knees from knocking, Morne is so damn poor that anyone in his right mind would never consider him ... which leaves Mr Maakniks and Johann Goosen.
My choice right now is to give Goosen a shot. To see how he goes. He sparked the back line when last he played. He made an immediate difference and that's good enough for me to give him a proper shot.  
You getting the picture now?
Would you rather have me post my explanation as a 5 part series? Little bits at a time?
Let me know if it's still a little confusing. I'm here to help.

 


 

 I always liked Marnitz, but I like Kleintjie Carel better. A mix between Jantjies and Pollard...AND a competitor to boot. A tad too soon for him now, but I'm sure he'll get a chance next year.

Not confusing just funny....that you were convinced Maakniks and then Lambie were the answer. Then convinced Goosen was not the answer, now after his award totally convinced Goosen is the answer. To me it seems you are the confused party....'Patrick the Awesome Lambie' you were talking up big time only weeeks ago. What a mong!

 I just enjoy it when you criticized players and then suggest that they be replaced by some worse candidates.   You want Fat Fransie as flyhalf - clueless and unable to take decisions while he is a atrociously poor when it comes to execution.  Very poor defender as well.
However - I understand your approach.   For you scoring of tries means absolutely nothing - you never mention that one when you go on the rampage against players. It is always only defense and kicking of balls - irrespective how aimless and poorly directed those kicks are.
The tragedy is that you often misinterpret issues and use those to criticize players and the same applies when you praise the donkeys you support based on reputation - performance counts for nothing.
So where is Fat Fransie on the above list of flyhalfs - definitely not in the top 10.   He is even worse than Morne Steyn who have the advantage of kicking at goal better than Fat Fransie.   For the rest they are equally poor - neither of the two has any ball sense and are they slow?  Definitely.  

 Ok ... I see you are still a little lost on why I selected Goosen. 
Let me try this ...
1. Problem at 10. 
2. Too much emptiness in depth at 10!! 
3. Many playa try ... do bad. 
3. Try Goosen. He do good last match.
4. Nutting to lose.
Savvy??
Sadly I'm not fluent in Moron. I would ask Beeno to explain it to you but he's just as confused as you are.
None the less ... the only advice I have for you is to rather just take my word for it. 
Let us adults speak about the intricacies of rugby and hopefully you'll catch a bit here and there. 
Meantime you keep working on your "Counter Ruck 101" ... I'm sure we would all love to hear about the "egg laying" technique you so patiently lectured us on the last time round.
Ok?