Bok Sephaka gets a call from Namibia

Six SA players in Namibian invitational squad

World Cup Springbok prop Lawrence Sephaka was one of three Test players named in the Namibian Invitational team that will face South Africa 'A' in a match in Windhoek on Saturday, June 5. In all, six South African players have been given permission by their respective Provinces to make the trip to Windhoek.

The other former Springboks are lock forward Albert van den Berg and scrum-half Dave von Hoesslin - both of whom hail from the Sharks.

Willem Stoltz (Lions, lock), Kees Lensing (Blue Bulls, prop) and Willem de Waal (Leopards, fly-half) make up the rest of the South African contingent - all of whom would no doubt like to use this opportunity to further their Bok claims.

The inclusion of Sephaka is certainly the most noteworthy of all six of the South Africans in the Namibian side.

He featured sporadically for the Sharks in this season's Super 12, after an eye-socket injury saw him miss out on the start of the Cats' campaign, but he did not convince in his only start of 2004 - against the Crusaders.

Sephaka made his Test debut on the end-of-season tour in 2001, against the American Eagles in Houston. He toured with the Boks the previous year, but only played in midweek games. He played the last of his 16 Tests against Georgia at the 2003 RWC.

He fell into rugby almost by accident at 14 when he grew too big for soccer and a teacher at his Boksburg school convinced him to try rugby. Sephaka has represented SA at Under-19, Under-21 and Under-23 levels along the way, and was a member of the SA U21 team that won the SANZAR/UAR tournament in 1999. That side, of course, was coached by current Bok boss Jake White.

Van den Berg, meanwhile, has become something of a forgotten Bok, after failing to make the Sharks' Super 12 squad this year. He spent the early part of the season playing for the Vodacom Cup for the Natal Wildebeest.

But his initial rise to the top was nothing short of meteoric, since being spotted by André Markgraaff (the current convener of selectors) in the rugby playing backwater of the Northern Cape.

His natural athletic abilities saw him flourish in Kimberley and in 1998 he really announced his arrival with some prodigious try-scoring feats. During Griquas' irresistible surge to the Vodacom Cup title, Van den Berg scored 12 tries in 13 matches and he dotted down a further four in Griquas' assault on the Bankfin Currie Cup where they reached the semi-finals.

It was no surprise when he was selected for the Cats' Super 12 squad in 1999. Injury delayed his start to the campaign, but he recovered and represented his country at the World Cup, scoring two tries in the dull pool match against Uruguay.

He played the last of his 24 Tests against the USA Eagles on the 2001 year-end tour, but has failed to regain his best form since.

Von Hoesslin, meanwhile, played the first of his five Tests against Italy in 1999. But a disastrous Tri-Nations Test against the All Blacks in Dunedin that year saw him drop out of favour - even though he came on as a centre replacement against Australia the following week.

He has never been near the national team since, even spending some time abroad with French club, Montferrand, and has also struggled to find a regular starting place in the Sharks team - playing in the shadow of another discarded Bok scrum-half, Craig Davidson.

* Sports promoter Willem Strauss said on Thursday that the Namibian Invitational team would be finalised next week.

The South Africa 'A' team will be coached by former Namibian World Cup coach Rudy Joubert, who will arrive in Windhoek on Wednesday, June 2.
 
Strauss also confirmed that the Currie Cup teams of the Golden Lions (June 12) and Free State Cheetahs (June 19) would play against Namibia as part of their preparations for the ABSA Currie Cup.