Jake leave out Watson for England clash

CAPE TOWN – Coach Jake White left out flanker Luke Watson in his first Springbok team of the year to play against England in Bloemfontein on Saturday.

Watson, who was controversially added to the Springbok training squad without the coach’s approval after political interference, was sent home along with several other players on Wednesday, but will rejoin the squad on Sunday. White had never picked the 23-year-old Western Province captain in his previous three years as coach.But South African Rugby union (SARU) president Oregan Hoskins overruled the selectors and forced Watson into the training squad.”The squad is being made smaller, but that always happens before a test match,” White told reporters.”The only time it will not be made smaller is when we play New Zealand.”We will still be keeping all of the guys in a larger squad.After Saturday we will have a look at who is injured, who needs to be replaced and we will see what sort of person we need to fill that position.”White named a predictable lineup for the first of two tests against the world champions with wing Ashwin Willemse making a return to test rugby for the first time in nearly three years.He last turned out against Ireland in 2004, but has since suffered a catalogue of knee and ankle injuries.”Ashwin is a player I’ve worked with over many years, going back to under-21s in 2002,” White said.”On his day he is a match winner.”Flanker Schalk Burger also returns to test rugby for the first time in 11 months.In June last year he suffered a severe neck injury against Scotland, which left his future as a rugby player in doubt.But successful surgery to fuse two vertebrae saw him successfully return to Super 14 rugby in February after six months of rehabilitation.Team: 15-Percy Montgomery; 14-Ashwin Willemse, 13-Wynand Olivier, 12-Jean de Villiers, 11-Bryan Habana; 10-Butch James, 9-Ricky Januarie; 8-Danie Rossouw, 7-Juan Smith, 6-Schalk Burger; 5-Victor Matfield, 4-Bakkies Botha; 3-BJ Botha, 2-John Smit (captain), 1-Deon Carstens.Reserves: 16-Gurthro Steenkamp, 17-Gary Botha, 18-CJ van der Linde, 19-Johan Muller, 20-Pierre Spies, 21-Ruan Pienaar, 22-Francois Steyn.Nampa-ReutersWhite had never picked the 23-year-old Western Province captain in his previous three years as coach.But South African Rugby union (SARU) president Oregan Hoskins overruled the selectors and forced Watson into the training squad.”The squad is being made smaller, but that always happens before a test match,” White told reporters.”The only time it will not be made smaller is when we play New Zealand.”We will still be keeping all of the guys in a larger squad.After Saturday we will have a look at who is injured, who needs to be replaced and we will see what sort of person we need to fill that position.”White named a predictable lineup for the first of two tests against the world champions with wing Ashwin Willemse making a return to test rugby for the first time in nearly three years.He last turned out against Ireland in 2004, but has since suffered a catalogue of knee and ankle injuries.”Ashwin is a player I’ve worked with over many years, going back to under-21s in 2002,” White said.”On his day he is a match winner.”Flanker Schalk Burger also returns to test rugby for the first time in 11 months.In June last year he suffered a severe neck injury against Scotland, which left his future as a rugby player in doubt.But successful surgery to fuse two vertebrae saw him successfully return to Super 14 rugby in February after six months of rehabilitation.Team: 15-Percy Montgomery; 14-Ashwin Willemse, 13-Wynand Olivier, 12-Jean de Villiers, 11-Bryan Habana; 10-Butch James, 9-Ricky Januarie; 8-Danie Rossouw, 7-Juan Smith, 6-Schalk Burger; 5-Victor Matfield, 4-Bakkies Botha; 3-BJ Botha, 2-John Smit (captain), 1-Deon Carstens.Reserves: 16-Gurthro Steenkamp, 17-Gary Botha, 18-CJ van der Linde, 19-Johan Muller, 20-Pierre Spies, 21-Ruan Pienaar, 22-Francois Steyn.Nampa-Reuters