Adriaanse and Van Zyl added to Springbok squad to Argentina
Lourens Adriaanse and Piet van Zyl, who made his Test debut in June against Scotland in Nelspruit, have been added to the Springbok squad of 26 players that travelled to Argentina on Sunday morning.
Van Zyl comes in for seasoned scrumhalf Fourie du Preez, who is not available for the overseas legs of The Castle Lager Rugby Championship. Adriaanse replaces Trevor Nyakane, who has been dropped from the squad following repeated breaches of team protocol.
The Springboks take on Argentina in Mendoza on Saturday in the second round of this competition.
Apart from Du Preez, the entire match 23 that comprehensively beat Argentina by 73-13 in the Nelson Mandela Sport & Culture Day Test at Soccer City on Saturday has been retained. Chiliboy Ralepelle, who injured his back during a gym session on Saturday morning, was ruled out of the tour.
Adriaanse will join the squad in Buenos Aires from Kimberley on Monday. Van Zyl joined the squad in Johannesburg on Sunday morning. The other two additional members to travel to Argentina are Marcell Coetzee (loose forward), who replaced Ralepelle, and Jano Vermaak (scrumhalf).
“We were only able to finalise the touring squad after the Test against Argentina at Soccer City on Saturday evening as we had to assess the injury situation,” said Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer.
“We are allowed to travel with only 26 players and it was difficult to leave out a few of our squad members. The players that stay behind will benefit from game time in the Absa Currie Cup and will certainly be in the selection frame when we select the squad for the squad to Brisbane and Auckland.”
Following the Springboks’ return from Argentina, the national selectors will discuss the touring squad of 28 that will travel to Australia and New Zealand for the third and fourth rounds of The Castle Lager Rugby Championship.
The 26-man Springbok squad to Argentina:
Forwards (15): Lourens Adriaanse, Willem Alberts, Marcell Coetzee, Bismarck du Plessis, Jannie du Plessis, Eben Etzebeth, Siya Kolisi, Juandré Kruger, Francois Louw, Tendai Mtawarira, Coenie Oosthuizen, Gurthrö Steenkamp, Adriaan Strauss, Flip van der Merwe, Duane Vermeulen.
Backs (11): Bjorn Basson, Jean de Villiers (captain), JJ Engelbrecht, Bryan Habana, Patrick Lambie, Willie le Roux, Ruan Pienaar, Jan Serfontein, Morné Steyn, Piet van Zyl, Jano Vermaak.
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