Reinach gets Bok reward

Cobus Reinach has been called up to the Springbok squad for the Rugby Championship, while Coenie Oosthuizen, Siya Kolisi and Johan Goosen have been dropped.

Reinach has been rewarded for a good Super Rugby season with the Sharks and is the third scrumhalf in the squad along with Ruan Pienaar and Francois Hougaard. Fourie du Preez was injured against Scotland and has been ruled out for the rest of the season.

Bok coach Heyneke Meyer has opted for Frans Malherbe ahead of Oosthuizen, Teboho Mohoje ahead of Kolisi and Handré Pollard ahead of Goosen.

The Boks also welcome back captain Jean de Villiers, Eben Etzebeth and Pat Lambie, all of whom missed the June Tests through injury.

'It’s great to have Jean back to lead the side,' said Meyer. 'Victor Matfield and Jan Serfontein both did superbly well in his absence, but he is our captain and I’m sure he will slot back into the side without any difficulty. The same goes for Eben, Frans and Pat, all of whom have been part of the squad before.

'We will medically assess all the players in the squad in Johannesburg next week. This will not only include the players who missed the June Tests because of injury, but also someone such as [Tendai] Mtawarira, who has been out of action for a while. We will deal with every player and his needs individually.'

The Springbok squad will gather in Johannesburg for a pre-competition camp from 4 to 8 August and then again on 10 August in Pretoria, where they will prepare for the Test against Argentina.

Springbok squad:

Willem Alberts (Sharks), loose forward, 32 Test caps
Bakkies Botha (Toulon, France), lock, 79 Test caps
Schalk Brits (Saracens, England), hooker, 7 Test caps
Marcell Coetzee (Sharks), loose forward, 16 Test caps
Damian De Allende (Stormers), centre/wing, uncapped
Lodewyk de Jager (Cheetahs), lock, 3 Test caps
Jean de Villiers (captain, Stormers), centre, 96 Test caps
Bismarck du Plessis (Sharks), hooker, 60 Test caps
Jannie du Plessis (Sharks), prop, 54 Test caps
Eben Etzebeth (Stormers), lock, 23 Test caps
Bryan Habana (Toulon, France), wing, 97 Test caps
Cornal Hendricks (Cheetahs), wing, 3 Test caps
Francois Hougaard (Bulls), scrumhalf, 28 Test caps
Pat Lambie (Sharks), flyhalf/fullback, 32 Test caps
Willie le Roux (Cheetahs), fullback/wing, 15 Test caps
Francois Louw (Bath, England), loose forward, 30 Test caps
Frans Malherbe (Stormers), prop, 2 Test caps
Victor Matfield (Bulls), lock, 113 Test caps
Teboho Mohoje (Cheetahs), loose forward, 1 Test cap
Tendai Mtawarira (Sharks), prop, 55 Test caps
Lwazi Mvovo (Sharks), wing, 9 Test caps
Trevor Nyakane (Cheetahs), prop, 4 Test caps
Ruan Pienaar (Ulster, Nothern Ireland), scrumhalf, 76 Test caps
Handré Pollard (Bulls), flyhalf, 1 Test cap
Cobus Reinach (Sharks), scrumhalf, uncapped
Jan Serfontein (Bulls), centre, 12 Test caps
Gurthrö Steenkamp (Toulouse, France), prop, 51 Test caps
Morné Steyn (Stade Français, France), flyhalf, 56 Test caps
Adriaan Strauss (Cheetahs), hooker, 34 Test caps
Duane Vermeulen (Stormers), No 8, 19 Test caps

Photo: Martin Hunter/Getty Images

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