There will always be questions about Bok selection leaving some people happy and others unhappy and there was no exception on Saturday night when the squad was named.

Springbok coach Peter de Villiers named ten uncapped players, which includes the nine newcomers and Earl Rose, the erratic Lions utility back that he has backed from the outset and was selected for last year’s tour of Britain as well as the series against the British and Irish Lions without earning a cap.

De Villiers said afterwards that he had chosen on form which in many cases was true, but in other areas not. For the Lions prop Heinke van der Merwe, for instance, there is no recent form to talk of, as Van der Merwe has been out injured for the entire Currie Cup season. And several other players selected into the squad have only played off the bench.

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Peter de Villiers have made eight changes to the Springbok team that lost 9 – 28 in the last test against the British & Irish Lions.

There are a further seven changes to the Springbok bench for the All Black Test, which kicks off at Vodacom Park in Bloemfontein on Saturday at 17h00.

Zane Kirchner, Odwa Ndungane, Jongi Nokwe, Wynand Olivier, Morné Steyn, Ryan Kankowski, Johann Muller and Chiliboy Ralepelle all started the third Test against the Lions at Coca-Cola Park on July 4, but are no longer in the starting XV.

They make way for Frans Steyn, JP Pietersen, Jean de Villiers, Bryan Habana, Ruan Pienaar, Pierre Spies, Bakkies Botha, who returns from a two-match suspension, and Bismarck du Plessis. Olivier, Steyn, Kankowski and Ralepelle have all been included on the Springboks’ bench for the Test against the All Blacks.

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Adrian Jacobs’ groin injury have prompted the selectors to call up Blue Bulls centre Wynand Olivier as back up in the Springbok squad.

Jacobs is being monitored by the Springbok medical team ahead of Tuesday’s announcement of the team to face the All Blacks in the Boks’ opening game of the Vodacom Tri-Nations on Saturday. Olivier joined the squad on Monday afternoon as a precaution if Jacobs in not passed to play.

“We are waiting on the medical team to report on Adi before we finalise the team and Wynand has been brought in as a precaution,” said Springbok coach Peter de Villiers on Monday.

“Wynand was part of the squad for the Castle South Africa 2009 Lions Series and should fit in easily if he is required to play.”

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A 23-man squad have been named to take on New Zealand on the 25th July 2009  in the Vodacom Tri-Nations.

The group includes 22 players that took part in the recently completed 2-1 Test Series victory over the British & Irish Lions. The only newcomer is Sharks prop Jannie du Plessis, who returns to the national set-up after last playing for the Springboks against England at the end of 2008.

Fourteen of the 23 players selected were amongst the match 22 in the third Test against the Lions on July 4.

The group includes lock Bakkies Botha, whose two-week suspension ends this week. The Bok squad assembles in Bloemfontein on Thursday afternoon.

Players in the broader Springbok squad, who played against the Lions but have not been selected for the first Vodacom Tri-Nations Test, have been released to play for their provinces in the Absa Currie Cup.

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The Springbok squad to take on the British & Irish Lions was announced by SARU President Oregan Hoskins and coach Peter de Villiers on Monday night at Montecasino.

The 28-man squad includes one newcomer in Vodacom Blue Bulls flyhalf Morné Steyn. The selection also marks the return to the Springbok squad of Sharks prop Deon Carstens and Vodacom Blue Bulls centre Wynand Olivier, both of whom last played for the Boks in 2007.

The other uncapped squad member is Xerox Lions flyhalf Earl Rose, who toured Europe with the Springbok team in 2008 but did not play.

Sharks flyhalf Ruan Pienaar and utility back Frans Steyn, who have been recovering from injury in recent weeks, are included in the group.

The squad includes ten players from the Vodacom Bulls’ victorious Vodacom Super 14 squad. No less than 25 members of the squad that toured Wales, Scotland and England at the end of last year were included again.

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