World Cup winners return for Boks
World Cup-winning stars Fourie du Preez and Jaque Fourie have been added to the Springbok squad for the one-off Test against Argentina and the home leg of the Tri-Nations competition.
Also coming back into recognition for the four Tests to be played next month in South Africa is Central Cheetahs wing Jonghi Nokwe.
Scrum-half Du Preez and centre Fourie were part of the World Cup starting team that won the title in France last year.
They have both missed the six Tests played by the Boks under coach Peter De Villiers this year because of injury.
The Boks, who beat Wales (twice) and Italy before beating New Zealand in Dunedin in a Tri-Nations match this month, will again be captained by lock Victor Matfield.
Regular skipper John Smit is still out of action because of a knee injury. Smit suffered the blow during the Boks’ first Tri-Nations match against New Zealand in Wellington on July 12, a match the Boks lost.
The World Cup title-holders also suffered a defeat to Australia in Perth on July 19. Also back in the squad is hooker Bismarck du Plessis, who missed the match against the Wallabies after picking up a three-week ban for an incident involving All Blacks flanker Adam Thomson.
He takes the place of Schalk Brits, who started the Test against Australia. Retained though is Central Cheetahs hooker Adriaan Strauss, who backed up Brits in the Perth showdown 10 days ago.
The Springboks face Argentina in a match in celebration of former South African president Nelson Mandela’s 90th birthday at Coca-Cola Park (formerly Ellis Park) on August 9, followed by matches against New Zealand in Cape Town on August 16 and Australia (twice) in Durban on August 23 and in Johannesburg on August 30.
Australia are on top of the Tri-Nations log with nine points from two matches. New Zealand are second with five points from three matches and they’re closely followed by the Boks who also have five points from three matches.
The Bok team gathers in Pretoria on Wednesday to start preparations for the match.
South African team:
Backs: Adrian Jacobs, Bryan Habana, Butch James, Conrad Jantjes, Enrco Januarie, Fourie du Preez, Francois Steyn, Jaque Fourie, Jean de Villiers, Jongi Nokwe, JP Pietersen, Odwa Ndungane, Percy Montgomery, Peter Grant, Ruan Pienaar.
Forwards: Adriaan Strauss, Andries Bekker, Bakkies Botha, Bismarck du Plessis, Brian Mujati, CJ van der Linde, Gurthr Steenkamp, Joe van Niekerk, Juan Smith, Luke Watson, Pierre Spies, Ryan Kankowski, Schalk Burger, Tendai Mtawarira, Victor Matfield.
JOHANNESBURG
