INTERNATIONAL NEWS:PETER DE VILLIERS does not want South Africa to get caught with their "pants down" over the next few years, explaining that his decision to name a host of unfamiliar faces in the squad to tour Europe next month was down to giving new players more experience.
The Springboks coach named nine uncapped players in his 37-man list to play five matches – three of which are Tests against France, Italy and Ireland – during November.
Bulls quartet Heini Adams, Francois Hougaard, Bandise Maku and Dewald Potgieter are amongst the new faces in squad, alongside Juan de Jongh from Western Province, the Sharks’ Alistair Hargreaves, Ashley Johnson of the Cheetahs and Griquas pair Davon Raubenheimer and Riaan Viljoen.
There are also recalls for Cheetahs centre Meyer Bosman, who last played a Test for his country more than three years ago and Heinke van der Merwe – the Lions prop whose only cap came in November 2007.
First stop for the world champions is next Friday at Welford Road in England when they come up against club side Leicester.
They will also play another tour match against Saracens and De Villiers revealed that games like those would afford some of the younger players to push on for bigger things.
“I think this tour is vitally important to all of us,” he said. “We are the number one side in the world and we seriously want to stay there. If you want to lead, you can’t lead from behind. If you look at the first stringers in the squad, they are the guys that will leave the scene eventually. We want to remain the number one side for years and we want to bridge the gap, making sure there is life when they eventually go.
“So we don’t want to get caught with our pants down after 2011, therefore have selected some new faces to give them that exposure at the top level.”
De Villiers indicated that most of the new blood had stood out during the domestic Currie Cup competition, which ended yesterday with the Bulls beating the Cheetahs 36-24 in the final.
He continued: “All of them put their hands up during the Currie Cup. There are others who may consider themselves unlucky not to have made it but it’s an indication of our depth that we were forced to leave some very good players at home.
“We will use this tour to expose the new players to our team dynamic and culture as well as to allow them an opportunity to play at a higher level and perhaps even challenge for a place in the Test 22.”
There were also two prominent names missing from the party in Jean de Villiers and Frans Steyn, both of whom joined European clubs after the successful Tri-Nations campaign, and the coach revealed that it would allow others to push for selection.
He said: “There are a host of players who are capable of challenging for these two positions, but at the same time we will continue to reassess ourselves in all positions to ensure that we are strong in every aspect of the game.”
He added: “We have three tough Test matches - France beat the All Blacks in New Zealand earlier this year and are always tough opponents at home, Italy were competitive away from home against the All Blacks and the Wallabies, whilst Ireland are the reigning Six Nations champions.
SOUTH AFRICA(squad to face France, Italy and Ireland during tour to Europe in November): BACKS: H Adams (Bulls), M Bosman (Cheetahs), J de Jongh (Western Province), F du Preez (Bulls), J Fourie (Lions), B Habana (Bulls), F Hougaard (Bulls), A Jacobs (Sharks), Z Kirchner (Bulls), O Ndungane (Sharks), J Nokwe (Cheetahs), W Olivier (Bulls), R Pienaar (Sharks), JP Pietersen (Sharks), E Rose (Lions), M Steyn (Bulls), R Viljoen (Griquas).
FORWARDS:J Smit (Sharks, capt), V Matfield (Bulls), A Bekker (Western Province), B Botha (Bulls), H Brussow (Cheetahs), S Burger (Western Province), B du Plessis (Sharks), J du Plessis (Sharks), A Hargreaves (Sharks), A Johnson (Cheetahs), R Kankowski (Sharks), B Maku (Bulls), T Mtawarira (Sharks), D Potgieter (Bulls), C Ralepelle (Bulls), D Raubenheimer (Griquas), D Rossouw (Bulls), P Spies (Bulls), G Steenkamp (Bulls), H van der Merwe (Lions).
Autumn schedule
Saturday
England v Australia 2.30pm; Wales v New Zealand 5.15pm.
Friday, November 13th
France v South Africa 7.45pm Wales v Samoa 7.30pm
Saturday, November 14th
England v Argentina 2.30pm; Italy v New Zealand 2pm; Scotland v Fiji 2.30pm.
Sunday, November 15th
Ireland v Australia 3pm.
Saturday, November 21st
England v New Zealand 2.30pm; France v Samoa 5pm;
Ireland v Fiji 5.15pm;
Italy v South Africa 2pm; Scotland v Australia 5.15pm; Wales v Argentina 2.30pm.
Saturday, November 28th
Ireland v South Africa 2.30pm; Italy v Samoa 2pm;
Scotland v Argentina 2.30pm; Wales v Australia 5.15pm;
France v New Zealand 7.45pm.
