Francois Louw was on Friday drafted into the Springbok match 22 for tomorrow’s Rugby World Cup Pool D match against Fiji in Wellington.
He replaces Johann Muller, who had been struggling with hamstring tightness. Muller was assessed by the Springbok medical team on Friday and the decision was taken not to risk aggravating the injury.
Louw made the last of his seven Test appearances in the final Tri-Nations match of 2010 season.
Springbok coach Peter de Villiers said that Willem Alberts would act as lock cover on the bench, and that they had planned for such an eventuality.
“It’s not an ideal situation, but that’s tournament rugby,” said De Villiers. “We knew this was a possibility from earlier in the week so we have made our plans. It’s a long tournament and we have to be sensible and there was no point risking making Johann’s injury worse.”
Saturday’s match: South Africa v Fiji, 17 September 2011, Wellington Regional Stadium, Wellington, kicks off at 18h00 (08h00 SA time).
No – Player – Province – Caps
- 15 – Pat Lambie – KwaZulu-Natal – 7
- 14 – Odwa Ndungane – KwaZulu-Natal – 8
- 13 – Jaque Fourie – Western Province – 65
- 12 – Frans Steyn – Racing Metro, France – 44
- 11 – JP Pietersen – KwaZulu-Natal – 39
- 10 – Morné Steyn – Blue Bulls – 30
- 9 – Fourie du Preez – Blue Bulls – 58
- 8 – Pierre Spies – Blue Bulls – 43
- 7 – Schalk Burger – Western Province – 64
- 6 – Heinrich Brüssow – Free State Cheetahs – 16
- 5 – Danie Rossouw – Blue Bulls – 59
- 4 – Bakkies Botha – Blue Bulls – 74
- 3 – Jannie du Plessis – KwaZulu-Natal – 27
- 2 – John Smit (captain) – KwaZulu-Natal – 107
- 1 – Gurthrö Steenkamp – Blue Bulls – 34
Replacements
- 16 – Bismarck du Plessis – KwaZulu-Natal – 39
- 17 – Tendai Mtawarira – KwaZulu-Natal – 29
- 18 – Francois Louw – Bath, England – 7
- 19 – Willem Alberts – KwaZulu-Natal – 5
- 20 – Francois Hougaard – Blue Bulls – 11
- 21 – Ruan Pienaar – Ulster, N Ireland – 49
