/ 23 August 2007

Still no Smit in Bok team

South Africa captain John Smit, who has not played since injuring his hamstring against Australia on June 16, will miss Saturday’s World Cup warm-up match against Scotland in Edinburgh.

Smit was not among the 22 named by the South African Rugby Union on Thursday, although he travelled with the team on their two-match trip to Ireland and Scotland.

He was withdrawn from the team to play Namibia in Cape Town on August 15 at the last minute because of hamstring problems.

The team will be led by lock Victor Matfield.

Only wing JP Pietersen, number eight Danie Rossouw and flyhalf Butch James are retained from the starting line-up that beat Connacht 18-3 in Galway on Tuesday.

Frans Steyn returns from a back injury to make his first appearance since June 23 at inside centre. He replaces regulars Jean de Villiers (hip) and Wynand Olivier (hamstring), who are also injured.

The match completes the Springboks’ warm-up programme before the World Cup opening on September 7. — Reuters

Team: Percy Montgomery; JP Pietersen, Jaque Fourie, Frans Steyn, Bryan Habana; Butch James, Fourie du Preez; Danie Rossouw, Juan Smith, Schalk Burger; Victor Matfield (captain), Bakkies Botha; CJ van der Linde, Gary Botha, Os du Randt. Replacements: Bismarck du Plessis, BJ Botha, Albert van den Berg, Wikus van Heerden, Ruan Pienaar, Andre Pretorius, Ashwin Willemse.