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Same again for Springboks

PUBLISHED: September 11, 2013


Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer has named an unchanged matchday 23 to face New Zealand at Eden Park in Auckland in the fourth round of The Castle Lager Rugby Championship on Saturday.

That means that inspirational DHL WP and Stormers skipper Jean de Villiers will, again, lead his country into battle as he gets set to win his 91st Test cap, with Duane Vermeulen, Eben Etzebeth and Siya Kolisi all in the selection mix too.

“We’re very fortunate to have a touring squad of 28 fit players to choose from but following the performance last weekend against Australia, it made sense not to make any changes,” said Bok coach Heyneke Meyer.

“Continuity in selection has been something we wanted to address this year and I’m very happy that we’ve not been forced into making too many changes yet. The 23 who played against Australia, deserved another chance this week as we believe in rewarding good form.

“I have faith in all the players in the squad and I feel we’ve now got to a situation where any player can come in at any stage without too much disruption.”

After beating Australia for the first time at Suncorp Stadium last weekend, the Springboks travelled to New Zealand where they will face the tough task of securing their first away victory over the All Blacks since 2009.

“We had a good win last weekend, but that is in the past now,” said Meyer.

“Playing the All Blacks in New Zealand is the ultimate challenge in rugby and one we’re very excited about facing. But the hard work is never done as we want to continuously improve as we evolve as a team, on all aspects of our game.

“We’re only halfway through the Castle Lager Rugby Championship with three very tough games ahead, but this weekend we’re facing the best team in the world and it will not be easy.”

The Springbok team to face New Zealand in Auckland is:

15. Zane Kirchner (Leinster, Ireland – 25 caps)
14. Willie le Roux (GWK Griquas – 6 caps)
13. JJ Engelbrecht (Vodacom Blue Bulls – 7)
12. Jean de Villiers (DHL Western Province – 90, captain)
11. Bryan Habana (Toulon, France – 89)
10. Morné Steyn (Stade Francais, France – 48)
9. Ruan Pienaar (Ulster, N. Ireland – 69)
8. Duane Vermeulen (DHL Western Province – 10)
7. Willem Alberts (The Sharks – 24)
6. Francois Louw (Bath, England – 22)
5. Flip van der Merwe (Vodacom Blue Bulls – 29)
4. Eben Etzebeth (DHL Western Province – 17)
3. Jannie du Plessis (The Sharks – 48)
2. Bismarck du Plessis (The Sharks – 51)
1 Tendai Mtawarira (The Sharks – 47)

Replacements:
16. Adriaan Strauss (Toyota FS Cheetahs – 27)

17. Gurthrö Steenkamp (Toulouse, France – 43)
18. Coenie Oosthuizen (Toyota FS Cheetahs – 8)
19. Juandré Kruger (Racing Metro, France – 14)
20. Siya Kolisi (DHL Western Province – 5)
21. Jano Vermaak (Toulouse, France – 2)
22. Pat Lambie (The Sharks – 26)
23. Jan Serfontein (Vodacom Blue Bulls – 6)