Coetzee pins hope on Goosen becoming the Boks' answer to All Black Barrett

18 August 2016 - 19:30 By Chumani Bambani

Johan Goosen will bring to the Springboks what Beauden Barrett brings to the All Blacks. That is the view of Bok coach Allister Coetzee‚ who confirmed France-based Goosen as the replacement for Willie le Roux at fullback in the South African side to face Argentina in the opening game of this year's Rugby Championship at Mbombela Stadium on Saturday.From the Bok side that clinched the mid-year test series against Ireland in the third match in Port Elizabeth in June‚ Coetzee has made five changes to the starting XV.Goosen is one of two changes in the backline‚ with the other being veteran winger Bryan Habana‚ who takes the place of JP Pietersen in the team.In the forwards‚ Cheetahs flanker Oupa Mohoje replaces the injured Siya Kolisi‚ while in the second row Lood de Jager got the nod ahead of Pieter-Steph du Toit in the No5 jersey.The final change sees Lions' tighthead prop Julian Redelinghuys getting a start in the spot vacated by Frans Malherbe from the previous test.Coetzee was caught between selecting Goosen and Jesse Kriel at fullback‚ and the coach was full of praise on Thursday for the man who will start in the No15 jersey this weekend‚ despite the 24-year-old last appearing in the green and gold in 2014.“Funny enough‚ that was where he played his last test match for South Africa‚ against Italy [in Padua]‚” said Coetzee.“We have seen in the inbound series that we focused on locally-based players and we lacked on right-footed kickers. Here we have an opportunity to play Jesse Kriel (off the bench) and Johan Goosen starting gives us that balance with our halfbacks‚ Faf (de Klerk) and Elton (Jantjies) being our left-footed kickers“Now we have Goosen‚ Kriel and Ruan Combrinck in the side which brings a better balance. I also feel that when people watch New Zealand rugby they look at Beauden Barrett‚ who slots in everywhere – fullback and No10 – and we have a similar type of player in Johan Goosen.“He is really quick off the mark. He has unbelievable running skills. He has aerial skills that are second to none and he kicks the ball a mile. So I'm really happy to have selected Johan at No15 and I'm looking forward to him playing for us this weekend.”There may have also been an expectation that Coetzee would stick with the lock pairing that worked wonders for the Stormers in the combination of Du Toit and Eben Etzebeth‚ but the coach opted to give the Etzebeth-De Jager combination that has been tested more at international level a starting berth‚ with Du Toit providing cover from the bench.“Yes‚ that worked for the Stormers‚ but I think for us as an international team we look at what we are facing this weekend‚ and I know that the challenge will be upfront‚” explained the coach.“Lood has not played test rugby in a while‚ so I thought it is better to start with Lood and we will have to try to get set-piece dominance. We have got a plan with our impact coming in from the bench and I think Pieter-Steph fits the bill‚ coming in from the bench‚ with his athleticism. When the game opens up I think he will be the right guy.”Etzebeth will be playing in his 25th consecutive test match for the Boks on Saturday.Combrinck‚ De Klerk and Redelinghuys‚ who all featured in the series against Ireland‚ will be making their Rugby Championship debuts for the Boks against Argentina.Prop Steven Kitshoff‚ hooker Mbonambi and Rudy Paige will also be getting their first taste of the Rugby Championship should they make an appearance from the bench.The Bok team is:Johan Goosen,Ruan Combrinck‚ Lionel Mapoe‚ Damian de Allende‚ Bryan Habana‚ Elton Jantjies‚ Faf de Klerk‚ Warren Whiteley‚ Oupa Mohoje‚ Francois Louw‚ Lood de Jager‚ Eben Etzebeth‚ Julian Redelinghuys‚ Adriaan Strauss‚ Tendai Mtawarira. Replacements: Bongi Mbonambi‚ Steven Kitshoff‚ Vincent Koch‚ Pieter-Steph du Toit‚ Jaco Kriel‚ Rudy Paige‚ Juan de Jongh‚ Jesse Kriel.l ..

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