Habana back in Bok squad for Fourie

JOHANNESBURG – Former South African Rugby Player of the Year Bryan Habana has been recalled to the Springbok squad for this month’s tour of Ireland and England.

The Bok winger, who can also play at centre, takes the place of Jaque Fourie, who on Wednesday was ruled out of the tour after breaking his hand in training. Habana was one of a number of Bok veterans not selected for the tour as coach Jake White looks to blood new talent ahead of the World Cup in France next year.”It was a toss up whether we should rest Jaque as well, but he and Jean de Villiers are an integral part of our team and we wanted to see how they played in different conditions,” said White.”In the end we opted for an experienced midfield as we’ve selected a bunch of new players at wing and fullback.Now that we’ve lost Jaque, we’ve had no option but to bring back another experienced player.”Bryan has played little rugby in recent weeks, but has spent a good deal of time in the gym and he looks in great shape.”The Boks have already lost loose forward Pedrie Wannenburg to a wrist injury, while prop CJ van der Linde only started training this week having recovered from a hamstring injury.The Boks face Ireland in Dublin on November 11 and then tackle England in back to back Tests on November 18 and 25.Nampa-AFPHabana was one of a number of Bok veterans not selected for the tour as coach Jake White looks to blood new talent ahead of the World Cup in France next year.”It was a toss up whether we should rest Jaque as well, but he and Jean de Villiers are an integral part of our team and we wanted to see how they played in different conditions,” said White.”In the end we opted for an experienced midfield as we’ve selected a bunch of new players at wing and fullback.Now that we’ve lost Jaque, we’ve had no option but to bring back another experienced player.”Bryan has played little rugby in recent weeks, but has spent a good deal of time in the gym and he looks in great shape.”The Boks have already lost loose forward Pedrie Wannenburg to a wrist injury, while prop CJ van der Linde only started training this week having recovered from a hamstring injury.The Boks face Ireland in Dublin on November 11 and then tackle England in back to back Tests on November 18 and 25.Nampa-AFP