Schalk Burger back in Springboks team for 2nd Test

[id@53]

South Africa, not without some serious thought have recalled Schalk Burger at openside flanker for the second Test against the Lions at Loftus Versveld on Saturday as the Springboks go in for the kill.

South Africa: F Steyn (Sharks), JP Pietersen (Sharks), A Jacobs (Sharks), J de Villiers (Stormers), B Habana (Bulls), R Pienaar (Sharks), F du Preez (Bulls); T Mtawarira (Sharks), B du Plessis (Sharks), J Smit (Sharks), B Botha (Bulls), V Matfield (Bulls), S Burger (Stormers), J Smith (Cheetahs), P Spies (Bulls).

Replacements: C Ralepelle (Bulls), D Carstens (Sharks), A Bekker (Stormers), D Rossouw (Bulls), H Brüssow (Cheetahs), J Fourie (Lions), M Steyn (Bulls).

The Lion's backrow will really need to be on top off their game if they're to give the backs any chance....

[CiaranIrl]

No replacement scrum half seems a bit of a gamble...

[dipper]

No replacement scrum half seems a bit of a gamble...

Pienaar has played a lot of his career at scrum half so he could step in there if anything happened to Du Preez with Morne Steyn coming on at 10. Surprised they kept that centre combination together. It was the one area where the Lions dominated last week.

[suisse]

No replacement scrum half seems a bit of a gamble...

Pienaar has played a lot of his career at scrum half so he could step in there if anything happened to Du Preez with Morne Steyn coming on at 10. Surprised they kept that centre combination together. It was the one area where the Lions dominated last week.

Yep, Pienaar is the man. There is some muscle on that bench. 3 huge men in Bekker, Rossouw and Brüssow to come on in the second half. The Lions will be delighted to have another crack at that midfield. That looks the only gamble taken. Roll on Saturday!

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Surprised Fourie isn't starting. I'm a fan of Jacobs but he was badly exposed last Saturday. Ralapelle is a bizarre choice on the bench. Aside from having a great name he doesn't deserve a place there and is clearly a quota selection.

[Oldschool]

No replacement scrum half seems a bit of a gamble...

Pienaar has played a lot of his career at scrum half so he could step in there if anything happened to Du Preez with Morne Steyn coming on at 10. Surprised they kept that centre combination together. It was the one area where the Lions dominated last week.

Maybe they're hoping that if they start with the smae centres (their weak link),
that we'll return the favour and start with Vickery (our weak link).
You've got to admire their arogance tho' and exploit it of course.

[tones]

No replacement scrum half seems a bit of a gamble...

Pienaar has played a lot of his career at scrum half so he could step in there if anything happened to Du Preez with Morne Steyn coming on at 10. Surprised they kept that centre combination together. It was the one area where the Lions dominated last week.

Yep, we could target Pienaar, get him injured . . . .

[awol]

Big Fan of Schalk, I worry for the Lions.....

Dont spose he fancies a year up in the Northern Hemisphere? I hear Rocky was pretty successful!

[hugonaut]

Peter de Villiers is a sh¡t coach who, beyond his personal ineptitude, is also politicising the selection of players. The Boks have two world-class hookers on the pitch: why do they need a very average one on the bench? Smit is still a better hooker than he is prop, so surely if Bismarck gets injured, any sensible coach would simply switch him in and bring on an out-and-out tighthead. Similarly, if Smit gets injured, bring on the self-same tighthead. Having Chiliboy Ralapele [agreed, f*cking ace name] on the bench is a ludicrous selection.

Adi Jacobs was absolutely shat on last Saturday. Annihilated. Why leave him on the team when you have a superior, more experienced player waiting in the wings? It's like the Lions keeping Vickery on board because he's English.

Januarie stank up the pitch last Saturday, and has had a very poor season in the Super 14, so no beef with letting him go. Obviously Ruan Pienaar is a top quality scrum-half [absolutely top quality], but now if du Preez gets injured, you change two positions rather than one. I can live with that, given that Morné Steyn is obviously a high quality outhalf in his own right and will be playing at home, where he was absolutely dominant in the Super 14 final, but still a risky solution, given that Pienaar and Steyn have never played together as a 9 and 10.

Very unorthodox coaching. Of course, he could be proved inspired, but his track-record doesn't speak of inspiration, it speaks more of affirmative action selection. Very mixed feelings about that on a sporting level.

[LeRouxIsPHat]

Peter de Villiers is a sh¡t coach who, beyond his personal ineptitude, is also politicising the selection of players. The Boks have two world-class hookers on the pitch: why do they need a very average one on the bench? Smit is still a better hooker than he is prop, so surely if Bismarck gets injured, any sensible coach would simply switch him in and bring on an out-and-out tighthead. Similarly, if Smit gets injured, bring on the self-same tighthead. Having Chiliboy Ralapele [agreed, f*cking ace name] on the bench is a ludicrous selection.

Adi Jacobs was absolutely shat on last Saturday. Annihilated. Why leave him on the team when you have a superior, more experienced player waiting in the wings? It's like the Lions keeping Vickery on board because he's English.

Januarie stank up the pitch last Saturday, and has had a very poor season in the Super 14, so no beef with letting him go. Obviously Ruan Pienaar is a top quality scrum-half [absolutely top quality], but now if du Preez gets injured, you change two positions rather than one. I can live with that, given that Morné Steyn is obviously a high quality outhalf in his own right and will be playing at home, where he was absolutely dominant in the Super 14 final, but still a risky solution, given that Pienaar and Steyn have never played together as a 9 and 10.

Very unorthodox coaching. Of course, he could be proved inspired, but his track-record doesn't speak of inspiration, it speaks more of affirmative action selection. Very mixed feelings about that on a sporting level.

I do too when there's already a good number of non-white (fairly sure that's the correct term they use in SA but correct me if i'm wrong) players who are good enough to be Springboks and aren't being held back by race issues. Obviously there's lots of things to take into consideration but I would imagine that there must be tension caused by non-white players being picked ahead of better white players and that any player picked more in terms of positive discrimination than anything else were to let their team down somehow then this would again cause tension amongst their team-mates and defeat part of the purpose of it.

[thecoolfreak]

Peter de Villiers is a sh¡t coach who, beyond his personal ineptitude, is also politicising the selection of players. The Boks have two world-class hookers on the pitch: why do they need a very average one on the bench? Smit is still a better hooker than he is prop, so surely if Bismarck gets injured, any sensible coach would simply switch him in and bring on an out-and-out tighthead. Similarly, if Smit gets injured, bring on the self-same tighthead. Having Chiliboy Ralapele [agreed, f*cking ace name] on the bench is a ludicrous selection.

Adi Jacobs was absolutely shat on last Saturday. Annihilated. Why leave him on the team when you have a superior, more experienced player waiting in the wings? It's like the Lions keeping Vickery on board because he's English.

Januarie stank up the pitch last Saturday, and has had a very poor season in the Super 14, so no beef with letting him go. Obviously Ruan Pienaar is a top quality scrum-half [absolutely top quality], but now if du Preez gets injured, you change two positions rather than one. I can live with that, given that Morné Steyn is obviously a high quality outhalf in his own right and will be playing at home, where he was absolutely dominant in the Super 14 final, but still a risky solution, given that Pienaar and Steyn have never played together as a 9 and 10.

Very unorthodox coaching. Of course, he could be proved inspired, but his track-record doesn't speak of inspiration, it speaks more of affirmative action selection. Very mixed feelings about that on a sporting level.

I do too when there's already a good number of non-white (fairly sure that's the correct term they use in SA but correct me if i'm wrong) players who are good enough to be Springboks and aren't being held back by race issues. Obviously there's lots of things to take into consideration but I would imagine that there must be tension caused by non-white players being picked ahead of better white players and that any player picked more in terms of positive discrimination than anything else were to let their team down somehow then this would again cause tension amongst their team-mates and defeat part of the purpose of it.

They refer to each race by their colour, so white or black

[gfo]

Its widely acknowledged that PdV was chosen as coach on the basis of skin colour, so what do you expect?