TUESDAY, 1.30PM:
ANDRE JOUBERT was on Monday left out of the Springbok squad to tour Australia. Springbok coach Carel du Plessis said Joubert passed the medical test, but will be left out in a bid to strengthen other positions. Du Plessis decided to include Natal centre Japie Mulder, who also went for a fitness test on Monday.
“The report I got from the medical team and from Andre himself is that he’s now 100% fit. However he hasn’t played for the last couple of weeks,” said Du Plessis. “Leaving Andre out of the squad wasn’t easy. It was a decision I had to make. We need to beef up our midfield and that’s why I went for Japie.”
Mulder is recovering from an operation on his shoulder and will only be allowed to take part in full contact sessions in seven days’ time.
Springbok squad: Backs: Russell Bennett, James Small, Andre Snyman, Percival Montogomery, Dannie van Schalkwyk, Japie Mulder, Henry Honiball, Pieter Rossouw, Jannie de Beer, Joost van der Westhuizen, Werner Swanepoel, Forwards: Gary Teichmann (captain), Andre Venter, Ruben Kruger, Warren Brosnihan, Johan Erasmus, Mark Andrews, Hannes Strydom, Krynauw Otto, Fritz van Heerden, Dawie Theron, Marius Hurter, Adrian Garvey, James Dalton, Chris Rossouw, Naka Drotske, Os du Randt.