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Cape Town - Springbok flank Francois Louw is excited at the prospect of playing his 50th Test against the All Blacks in Christchurch on Saturday.
Louw, who made his Test debut against Wales in 2010, was retained in the Springbok starting team for the Rugby Championship encounter against their old rivals.
It’s been a tough start for the Boks in the competition.
They beat Argentina 30-23 in their first match in Nelspruit, before losing to Los Pumas (26-24) in Salta. Then, after a promising start against Australia in Brisbane - where they led 14-3 - the Boks faded badly to lose 23-17.
“Obviously the team comes first and we’ve got a big job to do,” Louw told SuperSport Blitz after cracking the nod for his milestone Test. “This year hasn’t panned out exactly the way we hoped it would. It’s been a tough Championship so far, especially going down to Australia... as we did last week... having opportunities and not quite capitalising on that.”
Louw says the players know what to expect this weekend.
“The All Blacks are always a different challenge, but an exciting challenge as well. It’s an exciting match for me, so I’m glad to be involved in that, really looking forward to facing the All Blacks this weekend.”
Saturday’s Test is scheduled for 09:35 (SA time).
Teams:
New Zealand
15 Ben Smith 14 Israel Dagg, 13 Malakai Fekitoa, 12 Ryan Crotty, 11 Julian Savea, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Kieran Read (captain), 7 Ardie Savea, 6 Jerome Kaino, 5 Samuel Whitelock, 4 Brodie Retallick, 3 Owen Franks, 2 Dane Coles, 1 Joe Moody
Substitutes: 16 James Parsons, 17 Wyatt Crockett, 18 Charlie Faumuina, 19 Luke Romano, 20 Matt Todd, 21 TJ Perenara, 22 Lima Sopoaga, 23 Anton Lienert-Brown
South Africa
15 Johan Goosen, 14 Bryan Habana, 13 Jesse Kriel, 12 Juan de Jongh, 11 Francois Hougaard, 10 Elton Jantjies, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Warren Whiteley, 7 Oupa Mohoje, 6 Francois Louw, 5 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Adriaan Strauss (captain), 1 Tendai Mtawarira
Substitutes: 16 Malcolm Marx, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Lourens Adriaanse, 19 Franco Mostert, 20 Willem Alberts, 21 Jaco Kriel, 22 Morne Steyn, 23 Damian de Allende
