South Africa World Cup Squad

The Springboks were the first of the SANZAR nations to announce their Rugby World Cup squad on Saturday. New Zealand announce on Sunday and Australia on Monday. There were no surprises in the names announced, but Bobby Skinstad has capped his surprise return to Test rugby with inclusion in South Africa’s World Cup squad. Both he and Andre Pretorius are included even though they are carrying injuries, Skinstad a broken rib and Pretorious a muscle strain. The squad is made up of 14 backs and 16 forwards and contains prop Os Du Randt who was part of the 1995 cup winning team. White is likely to face criticism at home for selecting just six non-white players; Ashwin Willemse, Bryan Habana, Akona Ndungane, JP Pietersen, Ricky Januarie and Gurthro Steenkamp in his squad, the same number as in 2003 and way below what the politicians would like to see. The team is largely made up of the Sharks and Bulls players who contested the Super 14 final this year, the Bulls contributing 11 players and the Sharks 10.

South Africa open their campaign against Samoa on the 9th September before their crucial pool fixture against England, the United States and Tonga complete their pool.

South Africa World Cup squad:

Backs: P Montgomery (Sharks), F Steyn (Sharks); B Habana (Bulls), A Ndungane (Bulls), JP Pietersen (Sharks), A Willemse (Lions); J de Villiers (Stormers), J Fourie (Lions), W Olivier (Bulls); B James (Sharks), A Pretorius (Lions); F du Preez (Bulls), R Januarie (Lions), R Pienaar (Sharks).

Forwards: BJ Botha (Sharks), O du Randt (Cheetahs), G Steenkamp (Bulls), CJ van der Linde (Cheetahs); G Botha (Bulls), J Smit (Sharks); B Botha (Bulls), V Matfield (Bulls), J Muller (Sharks), A van den Berg (Sharks); S Burger (Stormers), D Rossouw (Bulls), B Skinstad (Sharks), J Smith (Cheetahs), P Spies (Bulls), W van Heerden (Bulls).

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