Coetzee replaces injured Alberts in Springbok team

Aug 16 • General News, International, Springboks • 1803 Views • Comments Off on Coetzee replaces injured Alberts in Springbok team

Photo: Rugy Wolff

Marcell Coetzee has been called into the Springbok starting team in the place of the injured Willem Alberts for Saturday’s Castle Lager Rugby Championship opener against Argentina in Pretoria.

Coetzee’s place on the replacements bench goes to Teboho “Oupa” Mohoje, who made his Springbok debut in June against Scotland in Port Elizabeth.

Alberts was forced to withdraw from the match-day squad after he picked up a hamstring strain during the captain’s run at Loftus Versfeld on Friday evening. He was given until Saturday morning to recuperate sufficiently, but the Springboks’ medical team decided he would not be fit enough to face Argentina this weekend.

“It’s never ideal losing an experienced member of your squad the day of a Test and I feel for Willem, but I also have the utmost confidence in Marcell, who has been part of our squad for the last three seasons, and Oupa, who impressed when he was given an opportunity in June,” said Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer.

Alberts will not travel with the squad to Argentina. As a result, Xerox Golden Lions captain Warren Whiteley has been drafted into the squad for the tour to Argentina.

The 26-year-old Whiteley was a member of the Commonwealth Games gold medal winning squad in Glasgow earlier this month.

Revised Springbok team to face Argentina in Pretoria is:

Position	Name	Test Caps	Test points
15	Willie le Roux	15	35
14	Cornal Hendricks	3	10
13	Damian de Allende	0	0
12	Jean de Villiers (captain)	96	125
11	Bryan Habana	97	275
10	Handré Pollard	1	13
9	Ruan Pienaar	76	130
8	Duane Vermeulen	19	10
7	Marcell Coetzee	16	10
6	Francois Louw	30	25
5	Lood de Jager	3	10
4	Bakkies Botha	79	35
3	Jannie du Plessis	54	5
2	Bismarck du Plessis (vice-captain)	60	45
1	Tendai Mtawarira	55	10
Replacements:
16	Adriaan Strauss	34	25
17	Trevor Nyakane	4	5
18	Frans Malherbe	2	0
19	Eben Etzebeth	23	0
20	Teboho “Oupa” Mohoje	1	0
21	Francois Hougaard	28	20
22	Morné Steyn	56	660
23	Jan Serfontein	12	5