Monty to start his hundredth

[lara93]

Veteran full-back Percy Montgomery will earn his 100th Test cap on Saturday when South Africa face New Zealand in the crucial Tri-Nations clash at Newlands.

Springbok coach Peter de Villiers has named Montgomery at number fifteen against the All Blacks with the popular player set to run out in front of his home fans, becoming the first South African player to earn one hundred Test caps.


http://www.planetrugby.com/Story/0,1...970223,00.html




...The team:

South Africa: 15 Percy Montgomery, 14 JP Pietersen, 13 Adrian Jacobs, 12 Jean de Villiers, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Butch James, 9 Fourie du Preez, 8 Pierre Spies, 7 Juan Smith, 6 Schalk Burger, 5 Victor Matfield, 4 Andries Bekker, 3 CJ van der Linde, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira.
Replacements: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Brian Mujati, 18 Danie Rossouw, 19 Luke Watson, 20 Enrico Januarie, 21 Francois Steyn, 22 Conrad Jantjes.

Date: Saturday August 16
Venue: Newlands, Cape Town
Kick-off: 15:00 (14:00 BST)
Referee: Matt Goddard (Australia)
Touch judges: Wayne Barnes (England), James Leckie (Australia)
Television match official: Geoff Warren (England)
Timekeeper: Paul Ackerman (South Africa)
Assessor: Tappe Henning (IRB)

[jono]

so?

[jargan83]

considering he sat himself out of 2 tests for it doesnt mean much

[lara93]

he wanted to play his 100th test at newlands because it is where he started his bok career
and the only bok player to do so

[jargan83]

yeah but he still sat out 2 tests for it, so it's engineered not fate and it's still pretty soft, this is the Professional age

[lara93]

true....

[jargan83]

so therefore pretty meaningless. If it was by chance that this was going to happen I would respect it more. I am not discounting the fact that he has played 100 Tests and he deserves recognition for it, it is just the way it has been handled.

If he is still considered to be in the best 22 then he should have played the last 2 Tests

If the fixtures weren't the way they were how many games would he have sat out for it??

[welshrugbyfan]

Anyone who plays 100 tests for their country has really achieved something and he is to be congratulated for the achievement. Besides he came to play for Newport for a while so I have to be a fan of his.

Well done Percy!!!

[lara93]

a lot....probably
but i dont see why they dont have janjtes at 15...he played well last week...but it could be because he hurt his neck.
and nokwe got completely axed from the team..he scored a try on debut last week and played really well...

[jono]

its a pathetic example of putting oneself before the team.
percy is an overindulged pretty boy. south african rugby should be ashamed of the way they allowed him to dictate when he would play.
representing one's country is an honour. you play when you are named to play. not when you want to. you dont choose which games you want to sit out.
he doesnt deserve to wear the springbok jersey again.

[lara93]

he knew he was going to get his 100th game during the tri-nations and he did ask for it to take place where he started his career so they have been giving other members of the squad a run which is good because now we know how they perform
but well done percy!

[jono]

no, not well done.
he dictated when he would play. making a mockery of every single other play who trained their rings out to earn a boks jersey.
how do you think whoever it was who filled in for him for those 2 games feels. "oh g sorry bud, you cant start this week because perc wants to play again. but you were only there by default for the past 2 games anyway"
people dream of playing for their country. its the highest honour that a player could ever have. did you ever see nobody say to the rest of the team "sorry guys, i dont like the look of those kiwi fellas, i'll be right next week though. those boks are pushovers"

[lara93]

o well
neither the less he is a great player for south africa

[jono]

yeah, when he wants to be.

[lara93]

and when he feels like kicking good