After our historic loss to Japan over the weekend, Heineke Meyer announced his 23 man team to face Samoa on Saturday. Notable changes included Bismark and Lwazi Mvovo out of the 23, Jesse Kriel to the bench, and Staruss and Etzebeth into the starting 15. Du Preez and Pollard will team up at 9 & 10 over Ruan Pienaar and Pat Lambie respectavely, and unsurprisingly the core experienced players in the form of Schalk Burger and captain Jean de Villiers managed to retain their spots. Lood de Jager who seemed to be one of the only Springboks that didn't look like a zombie against Japan has been dropped to the bench, and in a theme that seems all too familiar, seasoned veteran Victor Matfield will start. The Boks looked unprepared and uninspired against a fiery Japanese team, and if they don't play with some sort of pride this weekend Samoa will no doubt use their physical prowess to exert pressure on South Africa. After such a flat performance, it would have been nice to see an inclusion of youngsters who bring some "gees" into the squad, but instead the Bokke will be fielding an even more "experienced" team against Samoa than they did against Japan. Hopefully our old bones will be able to keep up with the traditionally bone rattling hits that Samoa dish out
Below is the full 23 man team:
1 - Tendai Mtawarira
2 - Adriaan Strauss
3 - Jannie du Plessis
4 - Eben Etzebeth
5 - Victor Matfield
6 - Franscois Louw
7 - Schalk Burger
8 - Duane Vermeulen
9 - Fourie du Preez
10 - Handre Pollard
11 - Brayn Habana
12 - Damian de Allende
13 - Jean de Villiers
14 - JP Pietersen
15 - Willie le Roux
16 - Schalk Brits
17 - Trevor Nyakane
18 - Frans Malherbe
19 - Lood de Jager
20 - Siya Kolisi
21 - Ruan Pienaar
22 - Pat Lambie
23 - Jesse Kriel
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12:28
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