Alberts out of Rugby World Cup opener

Sep 19 • General News, International, Rugby World Cup, RWC 2015, Springboks, World Rugby • 1594 Views • Comments Off on Alberts out of Rugby World Cup opener

Photo: Anton Geyser / Rugby 15

Springbok loose forward Willem Alberts has been withdrawn from Saturday’s Rugby World Cup opening game against Japan after injuring his calf during the captain’s run.

Pieter-Steph du Toit will start in the No 7 jersey with his place on the bench going to Eben Etzebeth.

“Willem felt some discomfort during the captain’s run and we took him out of the session as a precautionary measure,” said Springbok team doctor Craig Roberts.

“We reassessed him again this morning and decided it would be better to withdraw him from the team.”

As a result of Alberts’ withdrawal, the starting team now only has a combined total of 851 Test caps. It is still more than the previous most experienced Springbok side (836 caps), which played in South Africa’s last Rugby World Cup match against Australia in Wellington, New Zealand in 2011.

Revised Springbok team to face Japan in Brighton is:

Position	Name	Franchise / Club	Test Caps	Test points
15	Zane Kirchner	Leinster	30	25
14	Bryan Habana	Toulon	110	295
13	Jesse Kriel	Vodacom Bulls	4	10
12	Jean de Villiers (captain)	DHL Stormers	107	135
11	Lwazi Mvovo	Cell C Sharks	13	20
10	Pat Lambie	Cell C Sharks	44	122
9	Ruan Pienaar	Ulster	84	135
8	Schalk Burger	DHL Stormers	79	70
7	Pieter-Steph du Toit	Cell C Sharks	4	0
6	Francois Louw	Bath	36	25
5	Victor Matfield (vice-captain)	Vodacom Bulls	123	35
4	Lood de Jager	Toyota FS Cheetahs	12	15
3	Jannie du Plessis	Cell C Sharks	64	5
2	Bismarck du Plessis	Cell C Sharks	73	45
1	Tendai Mtawarira	Cell C Sharks	68	10
Replacements:
16	Adriaan Strauss	Vodacom Bulls	48	25
17	Trevor Nyakane	Vodacom Bulls	16	5
18	Coenie Oosthuizen	Toyota FS Cheetahs	21	15
19	Eben Etzebeth	DHL Stormers	37	5
20	Siya Kolisi	DHL Stormers	11	0
21	Fourie du Preez	Suntory	70	75
22	Handré Pollard	Vodacom Bulls	13	95
23	JP Pietersen	Cell C Sharks	60	90