De Klerk, De Allende back in Springbok team

De Klerk, De Allende back in Springbok team

October 05, 2016

The Springbok team to face the All Blacks in Durban:

15. Pat Lambie (Cell C Sharks) 52 caps, 137 points
14. Francois Hougaard (Worcester Warriors, England) 38 caps, 25 points
13. Juan de Jongh (DHL Stormers) 18 caps, 15 points
12. Damian de Allende (DHL Stormers), 19 caps, 10 points
11. Bryan Habana (vice-captain, Toulon, France) 122 caps, 330 points
10. Morne Steyn (Stade Francais, France) 65 caps, 721 points
9. Faf de Klerk (Emirates Lions) 7 caps, 0 points
8. Warren Whiteley (Emirates Lions) 11 caps, 15 points
7. Oupa Mohoje (Toyota Cheetahs) 13 caps, 0 points
6. Francois Louw (Bath, England) 51 caps, 40 points
5. Pieter-Steph du Toit (DHL Stormers) 16 caps, 15 points
4. Eben Etzebeth (DHL Stormers) 52 caps, 10 points
3. Vincent Koch (DHL Stormers/Steval Pumas), 6 caps, 0 points
2. Adriaan Strauss (captain, Vodacom Bulls) 62 caps, 30 points
1. Tendai Mtawarira (Cell C Sharks), 83 caps, 10 points

Replacements:
16. Bongi Mbonambi (DHL Stormers) 2 caps, 0 points
17. Steven Kitshoff (Bordeaux, France) 6 caps, 0 points
18. Julian Redelinghuys (Emirates Lions), 7 caps, 0 points
19. Lood de Jager (Toyota Cheetahs 0, 24 caps, 20 points
20. Willem Alberts (Stade Francais, France) 40 caps, 35 points
21. Jaco Kriel (Emirates Lions) 6 caps, 0 points
22. Lionel Mapoe (Emirates Lions), 8 caps, 0 points
23. Willie le Roux (Canon Eagles, Japan) 38 caps, 45 points

Faf de Klerk and Damian de Allende were included in Springbok starting line-up to face the All Blacks in Durban on Saturday in the final Test of the 2016 Castle Lager Rugby Championship.

The two personnel changes are both due to injuries – scrumhalf De Klerk comes into the starting team again as a replacement for Rudy Paige, who suffered a concussion in the victory over the Wallabies in Pretoria, while De Allende replaces Jesse Kriel, who was ruled out of action as a result of his groin injury.

In a positional change in midfield, Juan de Jongh moves from inside to outside centre, with De Allende now wearing the No 12 jersey. The two wings, Bryan Habana and Francois Hougaard, will swap jerseys for this Test.

The rest of the match-day squad was kept unchanged from the line-up that defeated the Wallabies by 18-10 last Saturday.

Stats and facts:

Head to head:

·South Africa and New Zealand square off for the 93rd time since their first Test match in 1921. South Africa won 35, lost 54 and three matches were drawn for a win percentage of 38%.

·The inaugural Tri-Nations Test between New Zealand and South Africa was played in Christchurch on 20 July, 1996. To date 44 matches in the Tri-Nations and currently Castle Lager Rugby Championship were played between the two countries of which South Africa have won 12 and lost 32.

·The complete South African record in the Castle Lager Rugby Championship against New Zealand is: Played 44, Won 12, Lost 32, Points for 842, Points against 1 219, Tries for 77, Tries against 122, Average score 19-28.

·South Africa and New Zealand are the only two Tier 1 countries who hold the record for most consecutive wins - between 1965 and 1969 New Zealand recorded 17 consecutive wins before the Springboks beat them in Pretoria on 25 July, 1970. During 1997/98, South Africa equalled the record with 17 consecutive Test victories before losing to England in December 1998.

·New Zealand repeated this feat and won 17 consecutive Test matches during 2013/14, this time being stopped by Australia who drew their first Castle Lager Rugby Championship match of 2014 in Sydney 12-12.

·On 1 August, 2009, Morné Steyn established a new world record by scoring all 31 points against the All Blacks in Durban with a try, conversion and eight penalty goals.

·The All Blacks will start Saturday’s match with 16 consecutive wins behind them.

What part of 'Bok team' dontcha get?

 He's pretty much in his own world....no problem with it on my side.

Long as he stays there.....nope, that was churlish of me, we welcome all types even those as clueless as Basque??

 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11724047

• Email Wynne

Wynne Gray 's Opinion Wynne Gray is a Herald columnist Wynne Gray: Boks are now doormats 5:00 AM Friday Oct 7, 2016

• SHARE:
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Google+
• LinkedIn
• 
  

• 
  
• 
  

• Opinion
• Rugby

Everyone is beating them this season.

The Springboks were always the true rugby test, a side with the history, know-how and skilled players who never gave in.

These days, they've become green and white doormats, a squad whose talent has been shredded by political selection systems, a lack of quality coaching, struggling administration and planning.

It's a disastrous sporting brew, with the glimmer of the Lions offering hope during Super Rugby which has not been translated into national combat.

There were crazy Springbok times with coach Peter de Villiers but some serious clout in his squad helped before the emotional Heyneke Meyer gathered and kept his men ticking over with strong success against all but the All Blacks.

There were a number of close contests where the All Blacks were taken to their limits yet on all but one occasion managed to outlast Meyer's men.

However, everyone is beating Allister Coetzee's squad in his first year at the helm: Ireland, Australia, New Zealand and Argentina.

All that mystique, all those stories both fabled and true about the Springbok strengths are being eroded.

All the advantages lie with the Boks until you compare the teams.

They are at home eating their own braii and dossing down in their own beds while the All Blacks were on the road to Argentina and then had three flights in a 24-hour roster to get to their hotel in Durban. Forecasts for the test suggest rain, which is seen as another boost for the Boks.

But it's all talk about damage limitation, ways to restrict the All Blacks and methods to cut down the victory margin. Even that great and proud Springbok midfielder Jean de Villiers is talking about another All Black march to victory.

Continued below.

Related Content

All Blacks: Aaron Smith sex scandal won't be a distraction - Jerome Kaino

All Blacks: McKenzie, Sopoaga on hand to replace Aaron Smith

Video

Nigel Yalden in South Africa: All Blacks move on from Aaron Smith's exit

It's as inevitable as Aaron Smith ... you know the rest.

There's some sting in the Boks where they have world class locks Eben Etzebeth and Lood de Jaager, robust loosie Francois Louw, some random sting from captain Adriaan Strauss and an occasional backline hiss but not much more.

They are cheddar which the All Blacks should turn into Swiss cheese, it's only a question of how long the process takes.

More Rugby

• Stats Centre
• Fixtures and Results
• All Blacks
• Dream Team Tipping

When the backs get the ball, Morne Steyn is so far back, Brodie Retallick needs to change his contact lenses to discover him, while the Bok halfback has to alter his passing protractor by about 90 degrees. That allows the All Blacks to flood across the advantage line as Steyne resorts to his A, B and C tactical kicking plans.

All the All Black ideas are a metre sharper than their rivals. They know what they are doing because they have trained so effectively, while the Boks are catching the ball, then thinking what they should do.

Their instincts are to hug possession rather than let it free. That's fine, and when it's done well, as England and Argentina have shown, it becomes a destructively accurate way of breaking down the All Black resistance.

The Boks have not mastered that level of precision and when they spill possession or kick it away recklessly, they become vulnerable.

Maybe they will find the magic elixir early on Sunday to stop the All Blacks.

Very few expected the 18-18 deadlock against the Wallabies in 2012 which halted the All Blacks bid for a record winning sequence or another impasse against the Wallabies in 2014.

If the All Blacks go "bone deep" in their preparation, they will equal the world record in what has been a year of continued acceleration from the men in black.

- NZ Herald

 Ouch .