Brüssow, Muller fit to travel

Johannesburg - Rugby World Cup winner Johann Muller and star flank Heinrich Brüssow were included in the Springbok squad on the away leg of the Castle Tri-Nations on Friday.

The pair have responded well to treatment and will be part of a 28-man party to take on Australia in Sydney on July 23 and New Zealand in Wellington a week later.

The squad includes World Cup-winning prop, CJ van der Linde, who was added as cover at the start of the week because of a number of injuries to leading front rankers. The 30-year-old Western Province prop – who can play on either side of the scrum – has now been retained having trained well with the squad this week.

“Johann and Heinrich are very important to us this year and they'll continue their rehabilitation on tour,” said Springbok coach Peter de Villiers.

“This squad is a good blend of experienced players, with Rugby World Cup titles behind their name, and the form players from Vodacom Super Rugby, with some outstanding potential. We’ve had some good field session this week and I’m excited about this tour.

“We’ve chosen from our Rugby World Cup preliminary squad – so the players know they’re in the selectors’ thinking for the tournament. I’ve told them that this is their chance to prove that they’re ready to take their place in the final squad.”

Following the overseas leg of the Series, the Springboks host Australia in Durban on August 13 before concluding the shortened series against New Zealand in Port Elizabeth on August 20.

The final Rugby World Cup squad will be named on August 23.

Springbok Tri-Nations tour squad:

Player	Province	Caps
Backs
Gio Aplon	DHL Western Province	13
Bjorn Basson	Vodacom Blue Bulls	4
Juan de Jongh	DHL Western Province	6
Adrian Jacobs	The Sharks	32
Elton Jantjies	MTN Lions	-
Patrick Lambie	The Sharks	4
Charl McLeod	The Sharks	-
Lwazi Mvovo	The Sharks	2
Odwa Ndungane	The Sharks	7
Wynand Olivier	Vodacom Blue Bulls	32
Ruan Pienaar	Ulster	47
Morne Steyn	Vodacom Blue Bulls	25
Forwards
Heinrich Brüssow	Toyota Free State Cheetahs	13
Jean Deysel	The Sharks	1
Dean Greyling	Vodacom Blue Bulls	-
Alistair Hargreaves	The Sharks	2
Ryan Kankowski	The Sharks	17
Werner Kruger	Vodacom Blue Bulls	-
Ashley Johnson	Toyota Free State Cheetahs	-
Johan Muller	Ulster	23
Coenie Oosthuizen	Toyota Free State Cheetahs	-
Chiliboy Ralepelle	Vodacom Blue Bulls	18
Danie Rossouw	Vodacom Blue Bulls	54
John Smit	The Sharks	102
Deon Stegmann	Vodacom Blue Bulls	4
Adriaan Strauss	Toyota Free State Cheetahs	9
CJ van der Linde	DHL Western Province	69
Flip van der Merwe	Vodacom Blue Bulls	10