The Springboks will face Wales on June 5 2010 in Cardiff with two new caps in the starting line-up and one newcomer on the bench.
Vodacom Stormers wing Gio Aplon and flanker Francois Louw will make their debut for the Springboks, while Vodacom Cheetahs wing Bjorn Basson is on the bench. These players were included due to them consistently performing well for their franchises during the 2010 Vodacom Super 14 tournament.
While the newcomers made it in the Bok squad, so did some old hands and six (6) overseas-based Boks. Fullback Frans Steyn, centres Jean de Villiers and Butch James, number eight Joe van Niekerk and props BJ Botha and CJ van der Linde is all included in the starting XV. These inclusions came as a bit of a surprise as Springbok coach, Peter De Villiers openly stated that he doesn’t want to pick South Africans based abroad.
Furthermore was the selection of Ricky Januarie at scrumhalf should shock to most Bok fans as Dewaldt Duvenage is preferred first choice at the Stormers. Januarie will start his first test since the win over England at Twickenham in London at the end of 2008.
The rest of the team is mix of quality players considering most of the Bulls and Stormers wasn’t considered due to their Super 14 final involvement.
TEAM:
15 Francois Steyn (Racing Metro)
14 Gio Aplon (Vodacom Stormers)
13 Jean de Villiers (Munster)
12 Butch James (Bath)
11 Odwa Ndungane (Sharks)
10 Ruan Pienaar (Sharks)
9 Ricky Januarie (Vodacom Stormers)
8 Joe van Niekerk (Toulon)
7 Dewald Potgieter (Vodacom Bulls)
6 Francois Louw (Vodacom Stormers)
5 Andries Bekker (Vodacom Stormers)
4 Danie Rossouw (Vodacom Bulls)
3 BJ Botha (Ulster)
2 John Smit (Sharks, Capt)
1 CJ van der Linde (Leinster)
Reserves:
16 Chiliboy Ralepelle (Vodacom Bulls)
17 Jannie du Plessis (Sharks)
18 Alistair Hargreaves (Sharks)
19 Ryan Kankowski (Sharks)
20 Meyer Bosman (Vodacom Cheetahs)
21 Juan de Jongh (Vodacom Stormers)
22 Bjorn Basson (Vodacom Cheetahs)
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