Ken Borland

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South Africa fullback Zane Kirchner has been ruled out of the second Test against England and Stormers utility back Gio Aplon has been called up into the Springbok squad to replace him, team management announced on Monday.

Kirchner injured his knee during the 22-17 first Test victory in Durban last weekend and was unable to take the field for the second half. The 27-year-old had a scan on Monday morning and, according to a statement released by team management, “it was decided that he would not be considered for the second Test”, in Johannesburg on Saturday.

The statement said Kirchner’s knee would be checked again next week ahead of the final Test in Port Elizabeth on June 23.

Aplon was one of the original 42-man Springbok training squad announced last month and was considered a controversial omission from the final squad, having starred for the Stormers en route to the top of the South African SuperRugby conference and having played in last year’s World Cup.

The diminutive Aplon [1.75m, 78kg] has played 16 Tests and his omission caused a storm of protest in his home city of Cape Town.

Kirchner is likely to be replaced in the starting line-up by Sharks utility back Pat Lambie, who slotted in well at fullback in the second half of the first Test. Aplon has the ability to play both fullback and wing.

Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer said on Monday that although Lambie was a quality replacement, fullback was a specialist position that would require some thought.

“Obviously Pat is a great fullback and he had a good second half, I was happy with his performance. Obviously he’s one of the guys who has played there before and it’s easy to use the group system, that’s helpful. But it’s always tough losing a fullback because it means you need a specialist reserve,” Meyer said.

South Africa’s other injury concern is prop Coenie Oosthuizen, who can play on either side of the front five and came off the bench in Durban.
Oosthuizen experienced pain in his shoulder and neck region on Monday morning and Bulls prop Dean Greyling has been called up as cover.

Meyer said Oosthuizen’s potential unavailability after earning his first test cap, would seriously complicate matters because he wants to go into the match with a prop on the bench who is comfortable with playing both loosehead and tighthead prop.
Greyling, 26 years old, has played Two tests, both 11 months ago when South Africa sent a weakened team to the away leg of the Tri-Nations in Australia and New Zealand.

Meyer also praised England for their defence in the first Test and said it had been hard for the Springboks to get their game-plan going.

“Our scrumhalf, Francois Hougaard, struggled a little bit because a lot of guys up front haven’t fitted in together before and didn’t provide him enough protection. That’s rustiness and we worked on that today, but credit to England because they pressed hard in midfield. They’re a quality side and their defence was good,” Meyer said.

“England were awesome at times, they showed great defence and great discipline and you can not go into a comfort zone against that sort of quality. They don’t give up like a lot of other teams give up and they came right at the end.”

Springbok loosehead prop Tendai “Beast” Mtawarira on Sunday attributed South Africa’s dominant scrummaging display against England to systematic work during the week with new scrum coach and former France star Pieter de Villiers.

The Springbok scrum dismantled England at the set-piece, helping to set up a 22-17 victory in Durban in the first test. England conceded two penalties and three free kicks at the scrum as South Africa’s starting front row of Mtawarira, hooker Bismarck du Plessis and tighthead Jannie du Plessis dominated from the outset, before replacement prop Coenie Oosthuizen and hooker Adriaan Strauss carried on the good work in the final quarter.

“We worked very hard on our scrum and had some good sessions during the week with Pieter de Villiers and it was a good start. He was a great scrummager in his time and he is a great well of knowledge, the best guy to learn from,” Mtawarira told reporters in Johannesburg on Sunday.

“Everyone was able to do as expected of him and we had a couple of new faces [debutant Oosthuizen and the recalled Strauss] that gelled together well. We can definitely take a lot of confidence out of our scrumming in the first test.”

De Villiers, who is South African-born but played 69 tests in the French front row, has been putting the Springboks through a gut-wrenching core-strengthening regimen that has seen them spending a lot of time crawling on the ground, but these exercises have provided tremendous muscle and also helped the home side dominant the crucial collisions in the second half against England.

“We needed to get used to each other in the first half, but in the second half we got into our game, we got on the front foot,” Mtawarira, who was at the forefront of the battle in the tight-loose, said.

While England’s recalcitrance at the scrum cost them points, it also proved a morale-booster for the Springbok backline.

“You can get a lot of penalties at the scrum now with the new rules and it needs to be a major focus. But it also gives a front-foot platform to launch attacks from and set up better field-position,” replacement back Pat Lambie said.

Lambie came on for the second half and helped the Springboks to two second-half tries, having replaced fullback Zane Kirchner, who suffered a knee injury.

Springbok media manager De Jongh Borchardt said Kirchner’s fitness was the one serious injury concern, while Jannie du Plessis, wing Bryan Habana, centre Jean de Villiers and scrumhalf Francois Hougaard all suffered facial lacerations in a no-holds-barred contest.

Lambie said the Springboks, under new coach Heyneke Meyer and a new captain in De Villiers, were very nervous ahead of the test.

“We were relieved to win because there were a lot of nerves yesterday. It’s just really nice to get the first one behind us, everyone’s chuffed to get the win out of the way. Everyone’s a bit more relaxed now. Last week, being our first week together, there was a lot to take in, but this week it will be nice to be able to focus on the things we need to work on,” Lambie said.

New South Africa coach Heyneke Meyer named nine uncapped players and eight members of the 2007 World Cup-winning side, but failed to install a captain when he named his 32-man Springbok squad in Pretoria on Saturday for the three-Test series against England.

This follows the surprise omission of veteran scrumhalf Fourie du Preez, who had been widely tipped to captain the side.

“I have a lot of respect for Fourie, but he knows my motto is team first and I had a few meetings with him and he said he wasn’t 100% sure he’s at his best, having not played for two-and-a-half months. It was a hard decision to leave him out, but it shows the character of the man that he told me to go with the youngsters if I felt he was a 50/50 selection,” Meyer told a news conference.

“So I will chat to the senior players before naming my captain, probably at the team announcement on Wednesday, but maybe before.”

The nine uncapped players are loose forwards Marcell Coetzee and Jacques Potgieter, utility back JJ Engelbrecht, locks Eben Etzebeth, Juandre Kruger and Franco van der Merwe, flyhalf Elton Jantjies, prop Coenie Oosthuizen and scrumhalf Jano Vermaak.

Wings Bryan Habana and JP Pietersen, centres Jean de Villiers, Frans Steyn and Wynand Olivier, scrumhalf Ruan Pienaar, prop Jannie du Plessis and hooker Bismarck du Plessis are the returning members of the Springboks’ 2007 World Cup-winning squad, while 15 members of the squad also played in last year’s World Cup.

“This is a team that can play winning test rugby – brutal defence, big forwards running at each other, tactical kicking and direct rugby. This team can play to our typical South African strengths and the side that plays best to their pattern is normally the one that wins.

“I wanted to start the season with an experienced squad to face England, who are a good, tough side, but injuries have made this difficult,” Meyer said.

Loose forwards Schalk Burger, Duane Vermeulen and Juan Smith, and lock Andries Bekker were ruled out due to injury.

The coach said the surprise omission of flank Heinrich Brussow, one of the foremost ball-chasers in the game, follows the new law interpretations that have caused fetchers to concede more penalties.

“That was a tough call because Heinrich is still up with the best opensides in the game, but the game has changed. They’re being penalised more and hookers are stealing more ball now. If the laws change, which they will, then he’ll definitely be in the mix. But at the moment it’s up to him to adapt to the laws,” Meyer said.

Bulls centre JJ Engelbrecht, who is playing his first full season of SuperRugby, is an unexpected inclusion ahead of exciting Stormers backs Gio Aplon and Juan de Jongh, who were both members of the Springboks’ 2011 World Cup squad.

“Obviously I can’t please everybody, but JJ is an exciting guy for the future and I want time to work with him. He’s already an awesome winger and I believe he can develop into a world-class number 13,” Meyer said.

Meyer’s selection of just three players from the Stormers – who are top of the South African SuperRugby conference – has caused displeasure in Cape Town, with the former Bulls coach naming 13 Bulls and 10 Sharks players in his squad.

There are also two overseas-based players in the squad – Pienaar of Ulster and Frans Steyn, who has just signed with the Sharks (but has yet to play a game for them) after a three-year stint in France with Racing Metro.

South Africa play England in the first test in Durban next Saturday, followed by matches in Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth.

Squad – Zane Kirchner (Bulls), Pat Lambie (Sharks), Bjorn Basson (Bulls), Bryan Habana (Stormers), Lwazi Mvovo (Sharks), JP Pietersen (Sharks), Jean de Villiers (Stormers), JJ Engelbrecht (Bulls), Frans Steyn (Racing Metro), Wynand Olivier (Bulls), Morne Steyn (Bulls), Elton Jantjies (Lions), Francois Hougaard (Bulls), Ruan Pienaar (Ulster), Jano Vermaak (Bulls), Pierre Spies (Bulls), Ryan Kankowski (Sharks), Willem Alberts (Sharks), Jacques Potgieter (Bulls), Marcell Coetzee (Sharks), Keegan Daniel (Sharks), Juandre Kruger (Bulls), Franco van der Merwe (Lions), Flip van der Merwe (Bulls), Eben Etzebeth (Stormers), Jannie du Plessis (Sharks), Werner Kruger (Bulls), Bismarck du Plessis (Sharks), Adriaan Strauss (Cheetahs), Chiliboy Ralepelle (Bulls), Tendai Mtawarira (Sharks), Coenie Oosthuizen (Cheetahs).

Former South Africa and Italy coach Nick Mallett believes the Springboks will approach their three-test series against England next month with a conservative game plan, more out of necessity than anything else.

The Springboks have a new coach in Heyneke Meyer and the first test against England comes just seven days after two intense SuperRugby derbies between the top-of-the-conference Stormers and Bulls and the challengers, the Sharks, against the Lions.

“I pity Heyneke because it’s going to be very hard trying to prepare a team for a test one week after those derbies, while England will have two weeks’ preparation,” Mallett told reporters in Johannesburg on Wednesday.

“Heyneke was my assistant with the Springboks before and he will understand that if he loses a single test, then he will be crapped out. He has to win all three tests in order to buy himself some time to develop his philosophy,” Mallett, who was South Africa’s head coach between 1997 and 2000, said.

“So I believe Heyneke’s mantra will be execution above innovation and it will be a very conservative team and game plan – he’ll be happy to win 25-18 with a handful of penalties, a drop goal and a breakaway try.”

Mallett, who was close to being appointed as England coach himself following the end of his contract with Italy, warned, however, that the visitors should not be underestimated.

“I would not be surprised if England sneak a game. They’re a very strong team, they’re bringing an air of confidence out of the Six Nations, as the tourmament developed, so did they. They’re scoring tries and they’re really well coached – Stuart Lancaster needed to bring pride back to the country and the jersey and he did that by picking the youngsters.

“It seemed definite that I would get the England job, but after the way Stuart Lancaster performed in the Six Nations, it was very difficult to drop him. It was very clear that they needed to turn over a new leaf and he’s given England the ability to counter-attack and they can hurt the Springboks,” Mallett said.

The Italy coach up until the end of last year’s World Cup pinpointed England’s halfbacks, loose forwards, front row and South African-born centre Brad Barritt as being stellar players.

“Owen Farrell at 10 is an outstanding talent, he’s a bit like Henry Honiball [Mallett’s flyhalf during the Springboks’ record 17 successive wins between 1997 and 1998] – his defence is great and his tactical kicking is good.

“Their front row of Alex Corbisiero, Dylan Hartley and Dan Cole has really come through and I think they’ll give the Springboks a real going-over.

“And England have great scrumhalves in Danny Care and Ben Youngs, they can both kick and they’re very quick and they like taking on the defence.

“But Barritt is the key player in the backline, he is tenacious, solid, he can take the ball up and he’s a good communicator and tackler. He believes he has the ability to play at that level, despite being ignored in the previous set-up.

“And the loosies, with Chris Robshaw in front, will be in the Springboks’ faces as well. The big question for England is can they match the Springboks in the physical exchanges?” Mallett said, adding that he felt there were several question marks in the selection of the South African pack.

The first test between South Africa and England will be played in Durban on June 9, followed by tests in Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth.

England have previously played 10 tests in South Africa, winning three and losing seven. Their last game in the republic was in 2007, when they lost 55-22 in Pretoria.