Monday Round-Up

Boks call up for prop: South African head coach Heyneke Meyer has handed a late call up to his European Tour squad for Golden Lions front row forward Ruan Dreyer. Having narrowly defeated England at Twickenham on Saturday, Meyer’s men now travel to Cardiff to take on Wales in little under two weeks time, the Saturday after Warren Gatland’s men take on World Champions the All Blacks at the Millennium Stadium. Dreyer’s call into the squad comes just days after it was confirmed that Jannie Du Plessis is struggling with an injury. Having been taken off midway through the clash with England, Du Plessis remains a major doubt for the remainder of the tour and with Gurthro Steenkamp unavailable for the clash due to commitments with domestic club Toulouse in the French Top 14, Dreyer presented the next best option for Meyer. Usual tight head replacements, Frans Malherbe and Marcel van der Merwe, are both unavailable for selection, with Dreyer set to join the squad in Italy in the coming days.

Camara in for France: France head coach Philippe Saint-Andre has named Toulouse back rower Yacouba Camara in his squad for next weekend’s final November test match against Argentina. Having been named in the initial 30 man squad for the opening clash of the series, Camara was omitted from last week’s squad for the clash with Australia, after Yannick Nyanga returned to full fitness. At just 20 years of age, Camara has already impressed for both the underage sides in the French national setup, along with a string of powerful displays for Guy Noves’ Toulouse. With Toulon back rower injured in training with the French Barbarians at the back end of last week, Camara is given the nod by Saint-Andre ahead of Saturday’s clash with the Pumas, although it remains unlikely that the youngster will see any gametime, with France unlikely to make wholesale changes to the match day squad.

Ryan Sheady