Mvovo, Hougaard added to Springbok squad for Australasian tour

Aug 30 • General News, International, Springboks • 1899 Views • Comments Off on Mvovo, Hougaard added to Springbok squad for Australasian tour

Lwazi Mvovo and Francois Hougaard were both included in the 28-man Springbok squad for the two away Castle Lager Rugby Championship Tests against Australia and New Zealand, which was named by SA Rugby on Tuesday.

The Springboks play against the Wallabies on 10 September in Brisbane and then tackle the All Blacks a week later in Christchurch in their next assignments of the 2016 Castle Lager Rugby Championship.

Cell C Sharks wing Mvovo, a member of the enlarged Springbok squad named a few weeks ago, comes into the travelling party as replacement for Ruan Combrinck, who sustained a leg fracture over the weekend against Argentina in Salta. The Emirates Lions wing has been ruled out of action for up to six weeks.

Hougaard was not considered for the two Pumas Tests because of a knee injury, but the Springbok Sevens Olympian and Worcester Warriors scrumhalf has since recovered and was added to the Springbok squad.

The rest of the squad is unchanged from the one that returned from Argentina on Monday.

Flyhalf Elton Jantjies will travel with the South African squad after he left the field early on Saturday with a deep bruise to the thigh. Although cleared to tour, a decision on his availability for the Australian game will only be made next week.

“Losing Ruan is a setback for us, but injuries are part of the game and it’s good for us to be able to call on experienced players such as Lwazi and Francois,” said Springbok coach Allister Coetzee.

“We are not happy with where we find ourselves after the first two matches of the campaign. Australia will pose an even tougher challenge and it is important that we deliver a much-improved performance in Brisbane.”

The Springboks assemble on Thursday morning in Johannesburg and fly out to Australia later that evening.

The Springbok squad for Brisbane and Christchurch is:

No	Name and Surname	Franchise/Club	Test caps
1	Lourens Adriaanse	Cell C Sharks	2
2	Damian de Allende	DHL Stormers	18
3	Lood de Jager	Toyota Cheetahs	22
4	Juan de Jongh	DHL Stormers	15
5	Faf de Klerk	Emirates Lions	5
6	Pieter-Steph du Toit	DHL Stormers	13
7	Eben Etzebeth	DHL Stormers	49
8	Johan Goosen	Racing (France)	8
9	Bryan Habana	Toulon (France, vice-captain)	119
10	Francois Hougaard	Worcester (UK)	35
11	Elton Jantjies	Emirates Lions	7
12	Steven Kitshoff	Bordeaux (France)	3
13	Vincent Koch	DHL Stormers/Steval Pumas	4
14	Jaco Kriel	Emirates Lions	3
15	Jesse Kriel	Vodacom Bulls	14
16	Francois Louw	Bath (England)	48
17	Lionel Mapoe	Emirates Lions	6
18	Malcolm Marx	Emirates Lions	0
19	Bongi Mbonambi	DHL Stormers	1
20	Oupa Mohoje	Toyota Cheetahs	10
21	Franco Mostert	Emirates Lions	2
22	Tendai Mtawarira	Cell C Sharks	80
23	Lwazi Mvovo	Cell C Sharks	17
24	Trevor Nyakane	Vodacom Bulls	25
25	Rudy Paige	Vodacom Bulls	4
26	Morne Steyn	Stade Francais (France)	62
27	Adriaan Strauss	Vodacom Bulls (captain)	59
28	Warren Whiteley	Emirates Lions	8