Springbok team to take on the USA in their final pool match

Oct 5 • General News, International, Rugby World Cup, RWC 2015, Springboks, World Rugby • 2358 Views • Comments Off on Springbok team to take on the USA in their final pool match

Photo: Anton Geyser / Rugby 15

Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer decided to keep continuity for the Springboks’ final Rugby World Cup Pool B match, against the USA at London’s Olympic Stadium on Wednesday.

The starting line-up shows only two changes from the team that played in the 34-16 victory over Scotland in Newcastle on Saturday.

As a result Frans Malherbe will start his first match of the season for South Africa while Rudy Paige could make his Test debut off the bench against the USA.

Malherbe comes in at tighthead prop for Jannie du Plessis in the only change to the pack. The backline shows only one personnel change as well, at wing where Lwazi Mvovo takes over from JP Pietersen, with Bryan Habana moving over to the right wing.

Pietersen was not considered this week due to injury, while a decision was taken to give Du Plessis and Victor Matfield time to get over some niggles due to the short turn-around after the Scotland match.

Joining Paige on the bench is Morné Steyn, who both could get their first taste of Rugby World Cup action this year. Schalk Brits and Coenie Oosthuizen are also back amongst the reserves this week.

“Wednesday’s match against a much-improved USA team is a must-win for us if we want to progress to the quarter-finals which is one of the reasons why we decided to go with continuity,” said Meyer.

“We also have a number of players who returned to action from injuries recently and it’s important to give them game-time against an opponent who will physically challenge us this week.

“The performances against Samoa and Scotland were satisfactory, but we will have to make another step up against the USA.”

Meyer said it is pleasing to see Paige and Steyn in the match-23 for the first time during the tournament, while Mvovo, Oosthuizen and Brits also deserved another run.

“All five of them have worked incredibly hard over the last couple of months and deserve this opportunity – it’s now in their hands to make the most of it,” said the Springbok coach.

The Springbok team to face the USA in London is:

Position	Name	Franchise / Club	Test Caps	Test points
15	Willie le Roux	Toyota Cheetahs	30	45
14	Bryan Habana	Toulon	113	305
13	Jesse Kriel	Vodacom Bulls	7	10
12	Damian De Allende	DHL Stormers	9	0
11	Lwazi Mvovo	Cell C Sharks	14	20
10	Handré Pollard	Vodacom Bulls	16	133
9	Fourie du Preez (captain)	Suntory	73	75
8	Duane Vermeulen	DHL Stormers	31	10
7	Schalk Burger (vice-captain)	DHL Stormers	82	80
6	Francois Louw	Bath	39	30
5	Lood de Jager	Toyota Cheetahs	15	20
4	Eben Etzebeth	DHL Stormers	40	5
3	Frans Malherbe	DHL Stormers	8	0
2	Bismarck du Plessis	Cell C Sharks	75	50
1	Tendai Mtawarira	Cell C Sharks	71	10
Replacements:
16	Schalk Brits	Saracens	8	5
17	Trevor Nyakane	Vodacom Bulls	19	5
18	Coenie Oosthuizen	Toyota Cheetahs	22	15
19	Pieter-Steph du Toit	Cell C Sharks	6	0
20	Willem Alberts	Cell C Sharks	34	35
21	Rudy Paige	Vodacom Bulls	0	0
22	Morné Steyn	Stade Francais	59	688
23	Jan Serfontein	Vodacom Bulls	22	10

Stats and facts:

After the Springbok tour to New Zealand in 1981, South Africa visited New York to play a historical first Test against the USA. For security reasons the arrangements for the match were shrouded in secrecy. The Test was played on a polo field at Glenville, New York. The only people who attended were officials, a few media people, the substitutes and security personnel. As a result the Test was played before the smallest attendance (30) at a Test match anywhere in the world. South Africa won 38-7.

Only two Tests were played since, both won by South Africa and the record against the USA is: P: 3; W: 3; L: 0; PF: 145; PA: 42. Win%: 100%.

The most points scored by the Springboks in a match against the USA were 64 in their match during the 2007 RWC in France. The score was 64-15 and nine tries were scored by the Springboks on that occasion.

The total Test caps for the Springbok starting line-up is 623. There are 262 caps in the backline with 361 caps amongst the forwards. On the bench there are a further 171 caps.

Rudy Paige could make his Springbok debut from the bench. His Springbok number will be 869.

Bryan Habana will extend his record as the most-capped Springbok wing, with 112 caps in this position. He is the most experienced Springbok backline player with 113 caps and only Victor Matfield (125) has played in more Test matches for South Africa.
If he scores a try he will extend his own record of 61 Test tries for South Africa. Bryan also holds the Springbok record for most career tries (12) in RWC tournaments. Jonah Lomu of New Zealand is the RWC record holder with 15 career tries.

Bryan needs one try to equal the world record for most Test tries as a wing. The current world record holder is Daisuke Ohata from Japan with 62 tries in the wing position.

Bryan needs one try against the USA to equal Ray Mordt’s record of three career tries against the USA. Should he score the try he will also equal Percy Montgomery’s career record of 15 career points against the USA.

Schalk Burger will play in his 76^thTest as a flank, South Africa’s most capped Springbok flank. Saturday’s Test will be his 17^th RWC Test to join John Smit as the most capped Springbok in RWC. He is also the Springbok record holder for most tries as a flank (14) as well as a forward (16).

Bismarck du Plessis is the Springbok record holder for most tries (10) in Tests as a hooker.

Morné Steyn could play in his 60^thTest if used as a substitute. He is South Africa’s most-capped flyhalf with 57 Tests in that position and his eight career tries is also a Springbok record for a flyhalf. Morné kicked six successful conversions in the match against Namibia in the 2011 RWC. This is a Springbok record that he shares with Ruan Pienaar who also kicked six conversions in the same match. Morné needs 12 points to reach 700 points in Tests for South Africa.

Francois Louw will play in his 40^thTest for South Africa while Trevor Nyakane could play in his 20^th if used from the bench.

Only four players, Bryan Habana, Fourie du Preez, Schalk Burger and Bismarck du Plessis have previously played in a Test against the USA.

The referee is Pascal Gaüzère of France. He made his professional debut in November 2010, when he was the match referee in a Test between Georgia and Canada. It will be his third Test involving South Africa. The previous two matches were both won by South Africa. That was in 2013 against Italy and Samoa played in Durban and Pretoria respectively.

The Stadium at Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park is the venue for the Springbok’s last pool match against the USA. It has a capacity of 80,000 seats, making it the third largest stadium in England behind Wembley and Twickenham. The Olympic Stadium, as it is more commonly known, is home to the West Ham United Football Club. One more RWC match, the so called Bronze Final, will be played at this venue.