Handre Pollard: Recalled at fly-half for South Africa
South Africa have recalled Handre Pollard for Saturday’s Rugby Championship clash against New Zealand in Wellington.
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Live Rugby Championship
- New Zealand v South Africa
- September 13, 2014 8:00am
Pollard, who has won three caps since winning the IRB World Junior Player of the Year title, comes in as the only change to side that lost 24-23 to Australia last time out.
The 20-year-old gets the nod at fly-half, with Morne Steyn dropping out of the squad completely and Pat Lambie continuing to provide cover on the bench.
“We felt that Handre has the right skill set for how we want to approach this game,” said South Africa coach Heyneke Meyer.
“He played well in the three Tests that he started. A couple of months ago, he was named the World Junior Player of the Year after some very impressive performances here for the Junior Springboks and I’m sure he can build on that.
“It’s also good for continuity to have an almost unchanged side. We know where we made mistakes last weekend and the players now have an opportunity to rectify those against the toughest opponent in world rugby.”
Character
The match will see captain Jean de Villiers celebrate his 100th Test appearance, with the skipper following in the footsteps of Victor Matfield, John Smit, Percy Montgomery and Bryan Habana.
Highlights of Australia v South Africa
“When the big names in South African rugby are mentioned, Jean will forever be among them,” added Meyer.
“He’s showed a lot of character and resilience to get here and to me, those are things that set him apart.
“Jean is not only an extremely good rugby player, but he’s also one of the greatest captains I’ve ever worked with.”
South Africa: 15 Wille le Roux, 14 Cornal Hendricks, 13 Jan Serfontein, 12 Jean de Villiers (c), 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 1 Tendai Mtawarira, 2 Adriaan Strauss, 3 Jannie du Plessis, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 5 Victor Matfield, 6 Francois Louw, 7 Marcell Coetzee, 8 Duane Vermeulen.
Replacements: 16 Bismarck du Plessis, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Marcel van der Merwe, 19 Lood de Jager, 20 Warren Whiteley, 21 Francois Hougaard, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Damian de Allende. Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
Article source: http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/news/rugby-rugby-league-sonny-bill-snubs-new-zealand-004612749--spt.html
Rugby Championship: Handre Pollard named in South Africa side to face All ...
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