New-look Springboks to face Barbarians at Wembley

Nov 3 • Analysis, General News, Springboks • 1719 Views • Comments Off on New-look Springboks to face Barbarians at Wembley

Patrick Lambie will lead a new-look Springbok team, which includes six uncapped players in the starting line-up and a number of Currie Cup stars, against the Barbarians on Saturday at the Wembley Stadium in London.

The match-23 for the Springboks’ first of four Castle Lager Outgoing Tour matches includes a total of nine uncapped players, however, no Test caps will be awarded for this international fixture.

The newcomers in the starting line-up are RG Snyman (lock), Roelof Smit (flank), Jamba Ulengo (wing), Rohan Janse van Rensburg (inside centre), Francois Venter (outside centre) and Sergeal Petersen (wing).

Tendai Mtawarira (prop), Pieter-Steph du Toit (lock) and Oupa Mohoje (flank) are the only players in the pack that started for the Springboks against the All Blacks in Durban last month.

There is a return to the starting team for Lourens Adriaanse in the No 3 jersey in place of Vincent Koch who is not available for this match, while Julian Redelinghuys is injured. Snyman will partner Du Toit, the newly-crowned SA Rugby Player of the Year, in the second row.

Openside flanker Smit comes in for the injured Francois Louw, while Jaco Kriel could also not be considered as a result of his injury. The final change in the pack will see Nizaam Carr taking over the No 8 jersey from Warren Whiteley who is also not available for this match.

The Boks will start with a revamped halfback pairing in Rudy Paige (scrumhalf) and new skipper Lambie (flyhalf), with regular captain, Adriaan Strauss, not in the match 23 as part of the succession planning in his position.

The rest of the backline consists of Ulengo, Janse van Rensburg, Venter, Petersen and Jesse Kriel, who will start his first match for the Boks at fullback.

Springbok coach Allister Coetzee said the Springboks’ aim was to improve after a difficult season, but that it would not be easy against the Barbarians.

“The Barbarians play an attacking, adventurous style of rugby and it will be a real test for our young side,” said Coetzee.

“They have an excellent, world-renowned coach in Robbie Deans, exciting young players in their side, including some South Africans, as well as several players who have a lot of Test match experience.

“We rewarded several young players for their performances in Vodacom Super Rugby and the Currie Cup and we will approach this match as a Test, although no caps will be awarded.

“It will be a really big occasion for our young players, but we’re excited to be giving them an opportunity.

Even though some of the experienced players were last in action against New Zealand four weeks ago, our preparation the past few weeks was really good.

“The excitement and enthusiasm of the new inclusions is contagious. In ideal circumstances I would’ve preferred to give every player in the squad a run, but this tour was also about introducing players who are on our radar for the future, while also introducing them to the Springbok way and ethos. I am sure they will work even harder to stay in the squad.”

The Springboks have played the Barbarians in seven matches so far, with the Baabaas leading 4-3 in wins.

The Springbok team to face the Barbarians at Wembley on Saturday is:

Stats and facts:

The Barbarians:

• The Barbarians Club was founded on 27 December, 1890 at Friary Field, Hartlepool. The founder, William Percy Carpmael’s dream was to spread good fellowship amongst all rugby football players.
• Their first match took place on the same day, when they beat Hartlepool Rovers 9-4.
• Their first match against an international side was against Wales on 17 April, 1915 at Cardiff Arms Park.
• The Barbarians’ first International match outside the Home Unions was against Australia on 31 January, 1948.

Head to head:

• The Springboks’ first encounter with the Barbarians took place on 26 January, 1952 also at Cardiff Arms Park. The final score was 17-3 in favour of the Springboks.
• The results of their seven matches to date are:
• 26/01/1952 in Cardiff: SA won 17-3
• 04/02/1961 in Cardiff: Barbarians won 6-0
• 31/01/1970 in London: SA won 21-12
• 03/12/1994 in Dublin: Barbarians won 23-15
• 09/12/2000 in Cardiff: SA won 41-31
• 01/12/2007 in London: Barbarians won 22-5
• 04/12/2010 in London: Barbarians won 26-20
• Total: Played 7; SA won 3; SA lost 4; Points for: 119; Points against 123; Tries for 18; Tries against 20; Win percentage 43%.

Match officials:

• The match officials for this match are: Referee – Mike Fraser (New Zealand); Assistant referees – Paul Williams (New Zealand) and Shuhei Kubo (Japan) with the TMO Graham Hughes (England).
• It will be Mike Fraser’s first appearance as referee in a match involving the Springboks.

The stadium:

• Wembley Stadium in London is home to the England National Football team as well as Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur.
• The stadium capacity is 90 000.
• The Springboks played only one Test match at the stadium before, against Wales while the construction of the Millennium Stadium (now Principality Stadium) in Cardiff was in progress. South Africa won the match 28-20. On that day, Franco Smith scored 13 points with two conversions and three penalty goals.

Interesting facts:

• The total number of Vodacom Super Rugby caps in the starting line-up are 611 – of this, 231 caps are in the backline with 380 among the forwards. The combined Vodacom Super Rugby caps on the bench are 317. The average Vodacom Super Rugby caps for the match-23 are 40.
• The youngest player in the 23-man squad is Jean-Luc du Preez (21y, 2m), while the oldest team member is Tendai Mtawarira (31y, 3m).
• The tallest player in the squad is RG Snyman (2.06m) and the shortest is Rudy Paige (1.69m).
• Six players will play in the Springbok jersey for the first time – RG Snyman, Roelof Smit, Jamba Ulengo, Rohan Janse van Rensburg, Francois Venter and Sergeal Petersen. Furthermore, Lizo Gqoboka, Jean-Luc du Preez and Tian Schoeman are the uncapped players on the bench who might also have this honour.
• It will be the first time that Pat Lambie will captain the Springboks in a match.
• Any uncapped players in the squad, will only become a capped Springbok when they appear in a Test and, until such time, these players will be regarded as Springbok tourists.

Springboks to face Barbarians at Wembley

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