CJ back for Boks
8 Nov 2009
Peter de Villiers has been forced to compromise on his stance of not picking up overseas-based-players by calling up prop CJ van der Linde as a replacement for the injured Jannie du Plessis.
Du Plessis has withdrawn from the European tour with a hand injury sustained against Leicester on Friday. Van der Linde, who plays for Leinster in Ireland, last played for the Springboks in 2008, but has since been overlooked after opting to continue his career outside of the country.
The Free Stater is a solid, experienced scrummager who’ll add great value in a facet of play that is likely to be the talking point ahead of the Test against France on Friday.
‘It’s fantastic that we’re able to call on a player with CJ’s experience to join the squad,’ said Bok coach De Villiers.
‘With such a tight schedule it is also helpful to be able to bring in someone who has been part of the group before, knows the systems and will settle in quickly. CJ is also a specialist tighthead who will provide the type of cover we will need.
‘It is unfortunate that we have lost three players so early in the tour but that is part of the game and we have to be able to manage such setbacks.’
Du Plessis’ injury means that the entire starting front row who were decimated at scrum time against the Tigers have been forced to return home, with hooker Chiliboy Ralepelle and prop Gurthrö Steenkamp suffering with foot and knee knocks respectively.
Van der Linde will travel to France on Wednesday where the rest of the squad, arriving from Johannesburg and London, will converge in Toulouse. The other two replacements Wian du Preez and Adriaan Strauss will join the squad in Johannesburg on Sunday.
249 Comments
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8 Nov 2009, 20:48 pm
I have been waiting for this headline for a bloody year….skoppie i almost fell off my chair when i saw your post….man this is xmas come early for me…
Precedent now set…bring on Frans Steyn, JDV , and BJ as well!
8 Nov 2009, 20:49 pm
#98 Puma: Selections is what it all boild down to
Remember Markgraaf that picked Tobie Oosthuizen, never heard of him again
You take the best and blood young ones around the experience-None of those guys learned anything on Friday, except that Leicester has great curry houses
8 Nov 2009, 20:50 pm
#102 JL1:
spot on
8 Nov 2009, 20:51 pm
#101 grant10: Not a chance he selected James befoe and never again
This is an exception to the rule I would say
8 Nov 2009, 20:52 pm
End of the road for a few players after the friday fiasco….with that jersey comes responsibility and accountability….i have some serious reservations about a few players there….
Seems that a few reputations were destroyed….may be a long steep path back i reckon.
8 Nov 2009, 20:53 pm
#98 Puma: Did you hear the caller on All Out Rugby relate the radio interview with PdV, in which Hugh Bladen asked him why Joe Pietersen had not been selected. PdV responded “Who’s Joe Pietersen”. When he was told he was WP fullback, PdV said it wasn’t his business to follow WP rugby. What an idiot!
8 Nov 2009, 20:54 pm
#65 WP_: Yes have to agree again.
8 Nov 2009, 20:55 pm
1. Gurthro (Heinke) 2. Liebenberg 3. CJ (WP) 4. Sykes 5. Rossouw (Alberts) 6. Potgieter 7. Deysel (Louw) 8. Alberts (Vermeulen)
Thats a NH Bok midweek pack that would have beaten anyone.
8 Nov 2009, 20:56 pm
#104 JL1: Ja….i know…but dreams are good friends!!
I have been calling for CJ to return for a year….just enjoying the moment!!
But i seriously believe we need to embrace the reality…players will play overseas…and perhaps we need to become a bit more flexible here…..
I am kakking myself for the french and irish in particular…perhaps even italians will not fear us…..
Now if we had Frans Steyn, JDV …would feel a lot more comfortable. Those are world class players…not easily replaceable…
8 Nov 2009, 20:57 pm
#106 Sidewinder: YES, Damn that was terrible. How could PdV not even know who J. Pietersen is. All those callers felt the same as me and probably the whole country. The selections that cost us. Why not select the best to tour? So very, very stupid. We missed the boat there. Would have seen who we had in our 2nd best side if any got a serious injury. Now we may never know and carry on selecting players that don’t make the grade.
8 Nov 2009, 20:58 pm
#108 cab: ashley johnson deserves a spot….he was outstanding
8 Nov 2009, 20:59 pm
Johnson came through fine from Friday. Adams did ok. Deysel also. Nokwe and Rose both had good games.
Only ones should be shattered by their performances are old stalwart palooka’s like Steenkamp, Du Plessis and Roussouw with Pienaar and Odwa Ndungane both having mare’s too.
None of the development players let the team down. Not Johnson or Nokwe or Adams or Rose or Viljoen or Hargreaves. Raubenheimer had a quiet game behind a losing tight 5 but so did Potgieter. It won’t shatter their confidence at all. The ones to get worried about are Steenkamp Du Plessis and Roussouw and Pienaar all seasoned JW Springbok’s who got rattled when push came to shove.
Bulls calling for Gary Botha a has been 2nd grade hooker shows their window dressing agenda outright now they jump on Mapoe cause Habana gone. Good opportunist window dresser’s they are too. Rassie should have signed Mapoe long before he chased Habana and Fourie.
Development is paramount in the game here and if Cc coaches won’t do it then national coach has to take the gamble and risk his credibility so you can crucify him about it. But the problem rests with the provincial franchises not developing players like Maku, Raubenheimer, Adams, Nokwe or Pienaar correctly so then they get thrown to the wolves on tours like these.
8 Nov 2009, 20:59 pm
#109 grant10: Grant we are going to miss JdV and Fransie huge. Adi just not playing like he was in 2008. Think that shoulder injury set him back huge.
8 Nov 2009, 20:59 pm
#110 Puma:
i dont think there is any TH in SA who can stay with castriogiavani, and the power of Bakkies and Bismarck, also increases the Boks firt XV immensely.
8 Nov 2009, 21:01 pm
#73 Puma: I think Zane Kirchner is an excellent full back. Good hands, good positional sense, brave, can kick. Deserves another chance.
8 Nov 2009, 21:02 pm
#110 Puma: It was just a prank interview on Darren’s breakfast show; Just Plain Breakfast!!
Someone imitating PdV.
8 Nov 2009, 21:03 pm
in a game defined by inches, typically fought for upfront in NH conditions, what you former backline coach potatoes fail to grasp is that the veterans have to try and make up the ground for every greenhorn in the pack.
this is precuisely why JL is right, you dont pick 9 new caps, you pick maybe 1 or 2, and more importantly you pick players who’ve played S14 – not thumbsucks, injuries, replacments or transformers – that is if you want to win of course.
8 Nov 2009, 21:07 pm
Johnson had quite a few solid runs, brute force stuff.
He won’t get away with that for long, guys going to read him and dump him.
Technically he was terrible.
8 Nov 2009, 21:08 pm
gary gold might be a clever analyst and reader of the game but he knows zip about real forward play, especially scrums.
we don’t need a coach for the lineouts, victor knows more than any coach worldwide. but, we sure as hell need a scrumming coach.
i can remember when balie swart was the scrumming coach at sharks – they stood back for nobody. now we are seeing the effect that os and proudfoot are instilling with cheetahs and wp.
why the hell can’t the boks get a scrumming coach?
we have 2 tenderfoots in beast and js in the front row and no specific coach.
arrogance or stupidity – i don’t know.
8 Nov 2009, 21:09 pm
great news this! but i wouldov been more happy if they gave bj botha a call instead, hes a better scrummager than cj but less mobile and influencial in the loose, give or take situation i gues, but give beasts exploits in the loose, id take bj instead
8 Nov 2009, 21:11 pm
@119 charo, couldnt agree with you more
8 Nov 2009, 21:11 pm
#112 skopskiet: You seem to forget that they were playing a club side that was missing 14 first choice players. The two centres were 18 and 19 years old. The one flank had to be borrowed from Nottingham, a second division team. There is no way the Boks should have lost to such opposition.
In the end, we learnt very little from the experience, just as we learnt very little in the 3rd Lions test. You have to develop young players by surrounding them with experience and slotting them into settled combinations. You can’t just throw them together and expect them to shine. Friday’s team was poorly selected. “Coming through” such a match proves nothing about a player’s ability to step up to the next level.
8 Nov 2009, 21:12 pm
#119 charo: PDV has called on the EX French tighthead …also Pieter de Villiers….and he will join boks tomorrow for the week to assist with scrums
8 Nov 2009, 21:12 pm
how many scrums were there?
it is important, but the bokke B were losing the collisions.
its all downhill from there.
8 Nov 2009, 21:13 pm
#115 SodaJoe: Zane is good but Frans Steyn is a lot better. Especially with that big boot.
Ag, he is gone now to Metro so have to forget him getting selected. Zane is our best there and probably J. Pietersen.
#114 cab: Not at this stage now. Agree with Bakkies and Victor in the Test side it does make a difference. You always notice when Bakkies goes off after 60min. Hope he can play for longer on Friday night.
Why so late the start there? Think it is 9.45pm our time and 8.45pm your time. Those French must enjoy playing at night. Like most of the games were in the WC unless it is for TV.
8 Nov 2009, 21:14 pm
#122 Sidewinder: Best post of the night. Agree 100%
8 Nov 2009, 21:15 pm
bu who do u guys think should be the scrum doctor, Os has obviously disagreed with pdv selections in the front row, and if memory serves me correct, he was against smits move to tighthead, unless he changes hes views i dunno, maybe Proudfoot?
8 Nov 2009, 21:16 pm
#109 grant10: Stuart Barnes reckon that the SA v France game could be a dress rehearsal for the 2011 RWC final
8 Nov 2009, 21:17 pm
#123 grant10:
hi grant – yes i saw that but it strikes me as a last minute knee jerk reaction.
the group needs a full time scrumming coach – especially if pdv is going to stick with js at 3 and beast at 1.
not just front row technical stuff, but full eight man shove, timing the hit – everything.
8 Nov 2009, 21:17 pm
#125 Puma:
victor makes buggeral difference to the collisions, in fact, if he does not carry his own versus france, we lose on sat also. he’s never been much chop on these EOY tours, far from the melktert.
8 Nov 2009, 21:17 pm
@ 123 grant 10, is that official boet?
8 Nov 2009, 21:18 pm
#119 charo: Howzit Charo, That is exactly what I said to G10 today. We need a specialist scrum coach. Not just a scrum coach for a week, but one until the world cup. I suggested Os too. The Cheetahs scrum has got to be the best in the country. Os has a lot to do with that. Bring him on board to the Boks and let him coach.
8 Nov 2009, 21:19 pm
#112 skopskiet: BS, PDV said resting players is not his business it is the CC coaches and S14 unions problem. He does not want to meddle, so the same should be for development
PDV should not use the iternational platform to development players
8 Nov 2009, 21:20 pm
#130 cab: hahaha. Cab I remember you saying those Bulls could do nothing without their melktert when the toured in the S14 this year. They won the S14 bud. Without Victor in the Lineout we wont have our greatest weapon there. We need him in the Boks side for sure.
8 Nov 2009, 21:20 pm
#124 cab: the 2 often go hand in hand cab…backfoot ball is a cancer….you go back…other team go forward….you get moered at the breakdown…..
Scrums are non negotiable…cannot ever allow a bok front row to be seen like last friday ever again…..saw highlights this afternoon….all 3 front row men injured….physically and mentally….it was carnage!
8 Nov 2009, 21:21 pm
#133 JL1: Well said.
8 Nov 2009, 21:22 pm
#130 cab: Bakkies loves playing against the French. I saw him the last time in Stade de France and he was the only forward shaping that day
It was cold, 2 degrees and snowing
8 Nov 2009, 21:22 pm
#127 Mustard: they have contracted the ex french tighthead …also called peter de villiers…he stays in stellenbosch now…joins boks tomorrow.
8 Nov 2009, 21:23 pm
#128 JL1: wow…KIWIS will kak themselves!!
8 Nov 2009, 21:23 pm
#134 Puma:
yup they stuffed the melktert up my keyster, but it def bakkies’ doing with the help of gurthro and dewald – the others too busy thinking of the heerlike terte (koeke en tannies) after the game.
8 Nov 2009, 21:24 pm
#138 grant10: Ja and I guess his French is a little bit better than Os with his English ek sê
8 Nov 2009, 21:25 pm
#137 JL1:
i hope so, am hoping the BBB clan (Bakkies, Burger and Bismarck) pitch up and dont do anything stoopid.
8 Nov 2009, 21:25 pm
#128 JL1: Well you never know but we play All Blacks in the Semi. If we get that far. I think we will. Then that is going to be a HUGE game playing ABs in their backyard. Very tough and sad that one of our teams will be out before the final. Would have loved a AB/Bok final.
It should always be worked out that the number one and two never meet in the semi but rather the final. More like the tennis and other sports do.
8 Nov 2009, 21:27 pm
#142 cab:
The BBB clan!! very funny had a good laugh there.
8 Nov 2009, 21:28 pm
#138 grant10: Peter de Villiers was a capable TH, nothing spectacular. Sending him instead of a top scrumming-coach is dicey. Besides Gold has guided the forwards to a few solid victories. Besides he can only work with what he is given.
8 Nov 2009, 21:28 pm
#140 cab:
Those Bulls got to give them credit. They were awesome this year and the final of the S14. They blew the Chiefs away good and solid.
8 Nov 2009, 21:29 pm
Remember Harry Viljoen selected Joe van Niekerk out of obscurity and Joe fitted straight into international rugby when SA didn’t even have such a strong team. That my friends is class.
Similarly Habana was selected after one Currie Cup at the Lions and whap-bang fitted right in to international rugby.
You can say what you like about Harry and Jake’s coaching, they did have a good eye for talent.
PDV may have been trying too hard mid-week to uncover another gem. It was perhaps a bit unfair on the players to be exposed in a mix-and-match team.
8 Nov 2009, 21:29 pm
#142 cab: They all owe us big games
OK Long post if you do not like it leave
France face South Africa in Toulouse, the nation’s rugby epicentre, on Friday. A rugby nation who have been plotting their course towards the next World Cup in 2011 against the world champions, who remain the best side in the world; halfway between the previous and the next World Cup this is “the turning point”, as the French coach, Marc Lievremont, describes the match.
The erratic selections that have been his trademark since he took over seem destined to be history. He has lost many games to find his framework but, after an away win in New Zealand in the summer, something solid is arising out of the wreckage of desperate defeats such as the 34-10 loss at Twickenham as recently as this year.
France have named a squad of 30 players. Only four of the initial selections were uncapped. The experimentation is almost over. “A group of 20-25 players is in place that works. We will gradually move towards 2011,” Lievremont says. Nothing franks the coach’s statement quite as much as the decision to remove Lionel Nallet — ” as a captain he was impeccable” — and replace him with the inspiring Toulouse flanker Thierry Dusautoir.
Lievremont no longer wants somebody to nurse a bewildering variety of young players; he wants a man to lead them to victories. Dusautoir is an outstanding candidate in an area of outstanding strength for France.
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If they are to beat the Springboks on Friday they will have to dominate one of South Africa’s strongest sectors, the back row. The injury to Pierre Spies is cause for French optimism but if Juan Smith overcomes his knee ligament problem South Africa will remain both powerful and balanced in the back row with Heinrich Brussow, arguably the flanker of 2009, and Ryan Kankowski complementing the wiles of Smith.
France also have glorious back-row talent. Their captain is an incredibly consistent performer but the outstanding individual performer is the moody Basque warrior Imanol Harinordoquy. He has sulked his way through some lean years but is back to his best — and setting new standards for himself — as one of the supreme lineout forwards and link players on the planet. The main worry for France is deciding who plays alongside these phenomenal performers.
If France wish to challenge the Victor Matfield lineout fiefdom, Fulgence Ouedraogo is the lithe option. If they decide to compete physically, Toulouse’s Louis Picamoles stands out. Picamoles plays as if hewn from marble, hard while also elegant, maybe not quite in the mould of a Rodin but tough on the tackler and easy on the eye; Lievremont has to make this core selection decision based on French strategy.
No side has dominated South Africa physically for some time but the Lions showed the scrum can be vulnerable. With William Servat an imposing hooker between Perpignan’s granite prop Nicolas Mas and Stade’s timeless Sylvain Marconnet, France might just fancy a full-on physical assault in, which case Pascal Pape starts in the second row with a charged-up Sebastien Chabal hurling himself into the fray for an hour or so. This promises to be a titanic forward battle in which France are capable of holding their own, inspired by the fanatical fans from their southwest heartlands.
Behind the scrum France also have a rising tide of talent. Maxime Mermoz is off the same production line that gave us Phillipe Sella and Yannick Jauzion while Maxime Medard is a chip off the Blanco block. Like the great man he makes errors but the brilliance of his attacking game and his vision mean he is a certain starter, with a host of flying wingers from whom to choose.
Scrum-half concerns have been eradicated with the emergence of Julien Dupuy as first choice and Morgan Parra a younger, contrasting back-up.
The one glaring weakness is at fly-half. Frederic Michalak has been recalled with the coach wistfully hoping he can reach his potential. Having already had 50 opportunities this is wishful thinking, which leaves France dependent on Francois Trinh-Duc. He was magnificent in the first Test victory against New Zealand but has to find the consistency and the control before the position can be considered anything but a relative weakness.
The Springboks themselves began the year with a quandary at fly-half but they have found, albeit reluctantly on the part of their coach Pieter de Villiers, a steady fly-half who happens to be a great goalkicker. In this season’s Tri-Nations Morne Steyn landed a stunning 29 from 33 attempts. The majestic series-winning kick against the Lions in Pretoria was a sighter for things to come.
France must keep the discipline with which Lievremont’s predecessor, Bernard Laporte, was obsessed and they will have to march the Springbok pack onto the back foot to prevent the world’s best rugby player, Fourie du Preez, from dictating the shape of the game from scrum-half. Du Preez, with Matfield and the captain, John Smit, will have to be wrapped in cotton wool to make 2011 but, if they are fit and raring to go by then, South Africa will be the team to beat, such is the vibrant talent simmering away.
New Zealand will probably crack under the pressure of internal expectations as World Cup hosts. And that could open the way for Friday night’s match to be repeated as the final in Auckland. The countdown to 2011 begins in Toulouse.
8 Nov 2009, 21:30 pm
#135 grant10:
you obviously have not been watching bok rugby for the last decade or so….i’ve been to twickenham virtually every time and have witnessed the bokke scrummed back into the carparck on every occasion apart fromn the last 2 years – you want to talk of embaressing – to get mullered by the pommeranians like that. hell, the best thing is just to keep silent, cos our scrumming has been a disaster. even cj and bj, our top props, aint exactly excelled upfront in the NH.
8 Nov 2009, 21:31 pm
#129 charo: Agree Charo….fully. I dont want to spark a lynching but i honestly believe the Smit at 3 move must be aborted….Time to get back to basics….lets rather embrace a true 3 and let Smitty do his thing from 2 or off the bench…
Smitty can cover 1 …2 and 3 in an emergency….
Seriously we need to get serious about our scrumming again…we have a master lineout….a match winning 9 and 19…a 8 amnd 6 that will be amazing if we scrum well….we havent seen the best of brussow and spies yet ….
I really believe last Fridays abortion can be the smack that we needed to wake up ….turn that negative into a positive by wising up…..
Kiwis gonna have Hayman back….French…poms…argies will target us at scrumunless we change our attitudes…now is the time i reckon.
I truly applaud PDV for this radical steps….but he mustmt stop now…he must sort this out 100%…and it may still offend some fans i am afraid!
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