The following is the team:-
15 Willie le Roux, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 Damien de Allende. 12 Jean de Villierss, 11 Bryan Habana, 19 Handre Pollard, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Lodewyk de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Gurthro Steenkamp
Replacements :
16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Tendai Mtawarire, 18 Frans Malherbe, 19 Bakkies Botha, 20 Marcell Coetzee, 21 Francois Hougaard, 22 Morne Steyn, 23 Lwazi Mvovo .
Well done HM....you have to admire this man. He recognizes we have a scrumming issue and brings in Steenkamp, a stronger scrummager....which was my call. H e isn't misled by the process tackling from Coetzee, we were missing a power runner....in comes Juan.
And he has the courage to stick with Pollard. I wouldn't have for this crucial test, but it could work out for him. I hope so, we need Pollard to succeed.
Bok rugby is in good hands....he can't produce great players out of a hat, and we are missing those players in several positions. But he is making honest, positive use of the resources we have.
The Springbok team to face Argentina in Salta is:
15. Willie le Roux 16 tests 35 points
14. Cornal Hendricks 4 tests 10 points
13. Damian de Allende 1 test 0 points
12. Jean de Villiers (captain) 97 tests 125 points
11. Bryan Habana 98 tests 275 points
10. Handré Pollard 2 tests 18 points
9. Ruan Pienaar 77 tests 135 points
8. Duane Vermeulen 20 tests10 points
7. Juan Smith 69 tests 60 points
6. Francois Louw 31 tests 25 points
5. Lood de Jager 4 tests 10 points
4. Eben Etzebeth 24 tests 0 points
3. Jannie du Plessis 55 tests 5 points
2. Bismarck du Plessis (vice-captain) 61 tests 45 points
1. Gurthrö Steenkamp 51 tests, 30 points
Replacements :
16. Adriaan Strauss 35 tests 25 points
17. Tendai Mtawarira 56 tests 10 points
18. Frans Malherbe 3 tests 0 points
19. Bakkies Botha 80 35 points
20. Marcell Coetzee 17 tests 10 points
21. Francois Hougaard 28 tests 20 points
22. Morné Steyn 57 tests 663 points
23. Lwazi Mvovo 9 tests 15 points
Okay so let's look at the list of players I "trashed".
Starting with Pollard. I said he had a generally good game, but his kicking was impacted by adrenalin. I pointed out he was running 3 times higher turnovers per minute played than any other RC starter. I said it was a 60:40 call, but in that hostle, remote environment I would have started Morne. I have no problem with HM going the other way.
De Allende....I thought he had a rather poor game and underlined his tackling and defensive structure issues. But the alternative is Steppie....so I would also have picked de Allende.
Lood.....is a neutral. I would have started with Bakkies and had Lomp play the second half. Maybe a boot up the butt is what this chap needs to be a warrior. He certainly wasnt one last week. Pity we can't get Willemse
Coetzee is a nice player, but not a dominator against big packs. He has huge support, thankfully HM has a more realistic view.
Steenkamp and Juan are good choices. So I am happy with two changes, happy Pienaar is still starting concerned but ok with Pollard, resigned about de Allende and only slightly uncomfortable about Lomp.
In all HM has done a fine job.
I am ready to eat humble pie, but until then I am extremely happy with the selection of Juan Smith.
At this point in time it seems that Juan will pack behind Guthro in the scrum - so expect a good effort from the loosehead side.
The Boks now have 2 genuine fetchers - so look forward to us dictating the loose ball. This may enhance conditions for running rugby and give Pollard opportunities to demonstrate his flair.
Juan is a better line out option than Marcel Coetzee, so expected F Louw to be subbed later in the game by Marcel and Juan doing 80 minutes.
Not a bad team. I picked Pollard, Habana, de Allande for my Fantasy rugby team last week thinking it would be a high scoring game (I had to pick some Bok players). They were a disaster of course but as the weather forecast is good for this weekend's game may stick with them. Pollard is of great interest.
Meyer is still experimenting & as the Boks are playing the 12th ranked team he can afford to do so.
Tank Lanning is a bloody insult, have you read that clowns articles.
Steenkamp and Smith should be nowhere near the squad, let alone starting......its insulting
