Cape Town - Johan Goosen has been recalled to the Springbok side and will start at fullback against Argentina in Saturday’s Rugby Championship opener in Nelspruit.
Springbok coach Allister Coetzee dropped regular fullback Willie le Roux from the squad for the first two games of the tournament following a poor run of form, and said that Le Roux must establish himself at his new English club Wasps and have a proper pre-season before he will be considered again.
The same principle applies to JP Pietersen at Leicester, which sees Bryan Habana back at left wing after the veteran missed the Ireland series due to club commitments with Toulon in France.
Coetzee also surprised by recalling Oupa Mohoje into the starting line-up for Saturday’s clash at the Mbombela Stadium (5pm kickoff), despite the Cheetahs No 7 having not had his best Super Rugby campaign this year.
Mohoje replaces the injured Siya Kolisi, while Warren Whiteley retains his place at No 8 due to Duane Vermeulen’s knee problem – for which the big Toulon man underwent surgery this week.
Sikhumbuzo Notshe is unlucky to miss out entirely, having been sent back to Western Province earlier in the week, with Jaco Kriel the back-up loose forward.
“Oupa has shrugged off his niggling injuries, delivered a string of consistently good performances for the Cheetahs, and he is a good option at the back of the lineout and always plays well for the Springboks,” Coetzee said on Thursday.
Lood de Jager has won the nod at No 5 lock ahead of Pieter-Steph du Toit, and is another strange selection as he has been far from regaining his 2015 form, while Du Toit has been outstanding in tandem with Eben Etzebeth at the Stormers.
“That worked for the Stormers, but we look at what we face this weekend, and the challenge will be upfront. Lood hasn’t played in a while and I think it’s better that we start Lood to try and get set-piece dominance,” said Coetzee.
“We’ve got a plan with our impact off the bench, and Pieter-Steph fits that bill off the bench with his athleticism. When the game opens up, I think he will be the right guy.”
As expected, Lions tighthead prop Julian Redelinghuys gets a start in place of the injured Frans Malherbe, while Juan de Jongh has been included on the bench.
But it is Goosen’s return that is the most interesting selection as he played his last Test against Italy in November 2014. He has operated mainly at outside centre for Racing Metro in France since then, and occasionally at fullback.
But Coetzee feels his right-foot kicking boot brings the necessary balance to the back-three. “His last Test match was at 15. We’ve seen (against Ireland) that we focused on our home-based players, and we lacked a bit in terms of right-footed kickers and here we have an opportunity to play a Jesse Kriel and Johan Goosen at 15 to give us that balance,” the coach said during the team announcement on Thursday.
“Faf and Elton are two left-footed kickers, and now we have Goosen and Combrinck as right-footed kickers. There’s a better balance, and I also feel that Johan - when people watch New Zealand rugby, they look at Beauden Barrett and they say ‘Jeez, this guy slots in anywhere, fullback or 10’.
“We’ve got a similar type of player in Johan Goosen, who is really quick off the mark, has unbelievable running skills and has aerial skills second to none, and he kicks the ball a mile.”
Springbok Team
15 Johan Goosen, 14 Ruan Combrinck, 13 Lionel Mapoe, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Warren Whiteley, 7 Oupa Mohoje, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Julian Redelinghuys, 2 Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Bench:16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 20 Jaco Kriel, 21 Rudy Paige, 22 Juan de Jongh, 23 Jesse Kriel.
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