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Nokwe gets his Springbok debut
August 05 2008
Free State Cheetahs wing Jongi Nokwe will make his debut for the Springboks against Argentina on Saturday in the Mandela Challenge match at Coca-Cola Park in Johannesburg.
The Cheetahs speedster was named in the Springbok starting line-up on Tuesday for the much anticipated clash against the Pumas.
Centre Jaque Fourie and scrum-half Fourie du Preez were included as replacements for the rematch of October's Rugby World Cup semi-final. Both joined the Springbok squad again after lengthy lay-offs due to injury.
Also included on the bench are the number eight Joe van Niekerk and veteran full-back Percy Montgomery. Van Niekerk will earn his 50th Test cap if used as a substitute while Montgomery will feature in his 99th Test for South Africa should he also enter the action from the bench.
Notable absentees from the matchday 22 are current and former World Player's of the year Bryan Habana and Schalk Burger. Luke Watson will wear Burger's number six jersey while Nokwe is in for Habana.
Springbok coach Peter de Villiers has said that his team will be sticking to their one and only game plan for their clash with World Cup bronze medalists.
De Villiers made it clear to the press on Monday that the Springboks are confident they are on the right track and won't divert from the pattern that they have been trying to establish during the past few months.
"We have one game plan, but there are pattern variations with which we can play around," said De Villiers.
"If I want to change my game plan I will have to change the players.
"When you look at the skills of the players in the extended squad, one comes to the conclusion that those who are on the field and those who are not are more or less the same.
"Therefore the game plan won't change when someone is injured. There may be a difference in physical attributes and speed but our style will remain more or less the same.
"That is where we will be working towards for the next four years," the coach explained.
Despite recently going down to Italy, a week after the same side was easily beaten by the Springbok in Cape Town, the Pumas impressed De Villiers.
"From what I saw in their match against Italy, they play just as Argentina usually play.
"It was their first match under the new experimental laws but it seemed as if the laws were made to suit them."
Springboks: 15 Conrad Jantjes, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Adrian Jacobs, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Jongi Nokwe, 10 Butch James, 9 Enrico Januarie, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Luke Watson, 5 Victor Matfield (c), 4 Bakkies Botha,3 CJ van der Linde, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements:16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Brian Mujati, 18 Andries Bekker, 19 Joe van Niekerk, 20 Fourie du Preez, 21 Jaque Fourie, 22 Percy Montgomery.
Date: Saturday, August 9
Venue: Coca-Cola Park (Ellis Park), Johannesburg
Kick-off: 15:00 (13:00 GMT)