Heyneke Meyer unveils World Cup team, Marcell Coetzee, Cornal Hendricks miss out

South Africa finished bottom of the pile in the recent Rugby World Championship following defeats to eventual winners Australia, New Zealand and Argentina but will nevertheless still be considered as one of the front-runners as they chase a third World Cup title following previous victories in 1995 and 2007.

Springbok head coach Heyneke Meyer said they he’s fully confident all seven will be fit to play in the tournament.

He takes his place in a star-studded squad, led by captain Jean de Villiers who is looking to recover from a broken jaw in time for the big kick-off.

A respected Johannesburg Times columnist labelled him a “carthorse” after the Springboks were humiliated 37-25 by Argentina in Durban – the first loss to the South Americans.

“You need proficient actors due to the fact they have also been in the World Cup and also forbidden pressure”, careworn Meyer recently.

Despite that, De Villiers, who has amassed 107 senior test caps during his career to date, is selected as part of a hugely experienced squad including Bulls’ scrum-half Rudy Paige as its only uncapped player and boasts several previous world champions in the likes of Victor Matfield, Bismarck du Plessis, Fourie du Preez, Ruaan Pienaar, Bryan Habana and JP Pietersen. Meyer says the team carries the countries hopes.

The toughest competition in the squad was in the loose trio, where Vermeulen, Willem Alberts, Louw, Burger and Siya Kolisi were named in the squad.

Utility back Frans Steyn, prop Vincent Koch and back-row Marcell Coetzee are also not included.

Skipper and inside centre Jean de Villiers and No 8 Duane Vermeulen are other players who have had fitness issues and will be on the plane to England.

Opinions are sharply divided over the ace goal-kicker and fly-half whose four penalties won the French Top 14 final for Stade Francais two months ago. Du Preez, a 2007 World Cup victor, has been struggling with a knee injury.

Flyhalf Elton Jantjies could be the bolter in the squad as someone capable of bringing his runners into the game more regularly, while Matfield is set to become the oldest Bok at a World Cup at 38 years.

In its letter to the IRA‚ the party charges that South African rugby “was‚ and still is a white-man’s sport‚ excluding and marginalising the majority Black population” and calls upon the global body to “to take a stance and condemn‚ unreservedly‚ the continued exclusion and marginalization of black South Africans from the national team”.