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Hansen: I'm happy I don't have to pick quotas

London – Steve Hansen says is glad he is not in the shoes of his Springbok counterpart, Heyneke Meyer, because he is not burdened with issue of selecting quota players.

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Hansen said earlier this week that selecting the Springbok team is not easy for Meyer because the Bok coach also has to consider the dynamic of selecting quota players. 

The All Black coach was asked on Thursday at the team announcement of the All Black side who will be facing South Africa in the semi-finals of the World Cup, if he regards players in the Bok match 23 like Bryan Habana, Tendai Mtawarira, JP Pietersen and Trevor Nyakane as quota players.  

Hansen responded by saying: “Look, I wouldn’t, but the facts are and the case of the matter is that they (South Africa) have to select their side differently to everybody else.

“Whether you or everyone else has to say that those guys provide the quota, I just don’t know enough about it. 

“All I know is that they have a quota they have to pick, which is different for me because I don’t have to do that. I just pick the best players and I think that is the way any sport team should be picked.

“I also don’t want to go in too deep with that, otherwise I will be in trouble with everybody. So, it’s best to sidestep the issue,” he added.

Teams:

South Africa:

15 Willie le Roux, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Fourie du Preez (captain), 8 Duane Vermeulen, 7 Schalk Burger, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira

Substitutes: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Jannie du Plessis, 19 Victor Matfield, 20 Willem Alberts, 21 Ruan Pienaar, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Jan Serfontein

New Zealand:

15 Ben Smith, 14 Nehe Milner-Skudder, 13 Conrad Smith, 12 Ma'a Nonu, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Daniel Carter, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read, 7 Richie McCaw (captain), 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Sam Whitelock, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Joe Moody

Substitutes 16 Keven Mealamu, 17 Ben Franks, 18 Charlie Faumuina, 19 Victor Vito, 20 Sam Cane, 21 Tawera Kerr-Barlow, 22 Beauden Barrett, 23 Sonny Bill Williams 

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