South Africans boost Irish pack

26 May 2016 - 02:00 By Craig Ray

The melodic lilt of the Irish pack will have a distinctly Afrikaans edge to it after three former South African-schooled players were included in Ireland's squad to face the Springboks next month.Flank CJ Stander, who was Munster's 2016 Player of the Year, Connacht lock Quinn Roux and Leinster hooker Richardt Strauss are in Joe Schmidt's 32-man touring group for the three-Test series.Hooker Rory Best will captain the side, signalling that Strauss's contributions will come off the bench, if at all.Roux, 25, is one of only two uncapped players in the squad alongside Ulster's New Zealand-born loose forward Sean Reidy.When Schmidt was Leinster coach he was instrumental in convincing Roux that he would have a Test future in Ireland. At the time Roux was competing with Eben Etzebeth for a place in the Stormers setup.Roux (who now plays for Connacht) joined Leinster after the 2012 SA season and has only just qualified to play for Ireland...

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