Coetzee excited to see young SA talent in action at Wembley
Springbok coach Allister Coetzee is excited about the prospect of seeing several young South Africans in action on November 5 when the Springboks face the Barbarians in an international rugby match at Wembley Stadium in London.
The Springbok coach has included 12 uncapped players in his travelling squad of 30 for the match, while Barbarians coach Robbie Dean also selected a number of young South Africans in his composite team.
The Killik Cup match against the famous invitation club side will kick off a four-week trip for the Springboks, who will also face England, Italy and Wales on consecutive weekends as part of their Castle Lager Outgoing Tour.
The South Africans arrived in London on Saturday and will resume their preparations on Monday morning at the Lensbury Hotel sports ground.
According to Coetzee they are excited about the prospects of playing against a quality Barbarian side. “I think Robbie Deans assembled a squad with a lot of experience and also exciting young players.” said Coetzee.
“If you look at the composition of that squad then you will see there are a couple of South African players such as Robert du Preez (DHL Western Province), Kwagga Smit, Ruan Ackermann (both Xerox Golden Lions) and Clayton Blommetjies (Toyota Free State Cheetahs),” explained Coetzee.
“They added experienced players such as Ruan Pienaar (Munster and Springboks), Andy Ellis (Crusaders/Kobelco Steelers and New Zealand) and Luke Whitelock (Crusaders and New Zealand), who have all played Test match rugby.”
According to Coetzee the Barbarians’ style of play will be a challenge for his youthful side: “Traditionally, the Barbarians play an attacking, expansive type of game, which will be a test for us. But, we have to follow our processes and make sure we lay a good foundation and get off to a good start for our tour.”
Barbarians select several South Africans
The famous invitation club completed its squad selection by calling up four players – flankers Ruan Ackermann and Kwagga Smith, lock Martin Muller and hooker Akker van der Merwe – from the Xerox Golden Lions.
They are joined by Toyota Free State Cheetahs fullback Clayton Blommetjies, DHL Western Province flyhalf Robert du Preez and Montpellier’s former Lions prop Schalk van der Merwe.
The latest invitations take to 26 the number of players assembled by Deans, who is being assisted by former England centre Will Greenwood.
Deans has some exciting young Vodacom Super Rugby talent at his disposal as well as Test players from four nations in South Africa’s Pienaar, Ellis, Seta Tamanivalu and Whitelock (all from NZ), Sam Carter, Luke Morahan, Taqele Naiyaravoro, Paddy Ryan and Toby Smith (all from Australia) and also Dan Tuohy (Ireland).
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