Aces revealed in Springbok Tri-Nations squad

8.30am

Springbok coach Rudolf Straeuli revealed his first pair of aces for the Tri-Nations in naming a surprising squad on Monday.

Straeuli bluffed his way through a host of cards before slipping in Free State flanker Hendro Scholtz as the newest recruit in his campaign to get the Boks back on track.

Few would have guessed that Sharks lock AJ Venter would become the joker in the pack after being discarded for bad form a week ago.

The 24-man squad which will do duty in the first away game against New Zealand in Wellington on July 20 shows the level of regard the Bok coach has for his players, many of whom toiled through the first four Tests of the season in a bid to impress.

It was a major bluff from the Bok coach
The harshness of the coaching panel's judgment was obvious in the announcement that neither of the Stormers lock duo of Hottie Louw and Quinton Davids was deemed good enough.

Instead, Venter, who comes into the equation as the utility forward, and Victor Matfield, who sneaked in the back door through some towering line-out work, will vie for a place alongside Jannes Labuschagne.

It was a major bluff from the Bok coach, who openly praised the talents of Selborne Boome in the press breakfast on Sunday, tipping him for the squad.

Yet the decision to leave Boome behind was probably taken for the sake of continuity, as the Western Province lock has only had one competitive game since returning from France.

Heartache was also the name of the game for debutants Shaun Sowerby and Danie Coetzee, both desperately unlucky not to hand their passports in for the trip.

'No player can be in a comfort zone'
Sowerby was effectively removed from the squad by Scholtz, who plays a similar game to captain Corne Krige, while Delarey du Preez must have inched his way in by the slimmest of margins ahead of Coetzee.

Utility back Brent Russell must prove to doctor Uli Schmidt by Wednesday that he has recovered from his hamstring injury. The same goes for the niggles of Ollie le Roux and Willie Meyer.

Straeuli once again threw down the gauntlet to the players. "There were some very difficult choices to make, which is always encouraging," said Straeuli. "Those who have missed out must not be despondent. This squad has been chosen for only the first match of the Tri-nations series.

"No player can be in a comfort zone. The coaching staff is constantly looking to improve the squad and those in the squad must play well enough to stay there. The challenge for those on the fringes is to keep on pressing for Test inclusion by way of good performances for their provincial sides."

Another Stormer, Daan Human, became the victim of Le Roux's shift back to loosehead after Straeuli preferred to take a second specialist hooker and this brings the number of players dropped from the 60-18 win over Samoa to five.

The tour offers prop Lawrence Sephaka the opportunity to press his claim for a more permanent place in the side after a solid showing against Samoa.

Springbok squad:

Backs:
De Wet Barry (WP)
Johannes Conradie (WP)
Neil de Kock (WP)
Werner Greeff (WP)
Dean Hall (Lions)
Adrian Jacobs (Falcons)
Marius Joubert (WP)
Breyton Paulse (WP)
Andre Pretorius (Lions)
Brent Russell (Pumas)
Stefan Terblanche (Sharks).

Forwards:
James Dalton (Falcons)
Delarey du Preez (Lions)
Jannes Labuschagne (Lions)
Corne Krige (WP)
Ollie le Roux (Sharks)
Victor Matfield (Bulls)
Willie Meyer (Lions)
Faan Rautenbach (WP)
Hendro Scholtz (Free State)
Lawrence Sephaka (Lions)
Bob Skinstad (WP)
Joe van Niekerk (Lions)
AJ Venter (Sharks)

- INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPERS (SOUTH AFRICA)