South Africa coach Harry Viljoen may be under the hammer at home for a less
than impressive European tour, but he still has one more obstacle to face
before heading back to face the music.
This Saturday the Springboks tackle the USA Eagles in Houston in the last
international of the year for both teams.
Despite defeats to France and England within the last few weeks, South
Africa will go into the game as heavy favourites, although the Americans
will be no pushovers.
South Africa will be without several star players including Percy
Montgomery, Mark Andrews, Corne Krige and Breyton Paulse who stayed on in
Europe to turn out for the Barbarians against Australia in Wales, but their
likely replacements are all useful players in their own right.
Louis Koen, Albert van den Berg, Joe van Niekerk and De Wet Barry will be
fired up to put in a good showing with a mind to next year's South African
test selections.
On the other side, the Eagles will be skippered by Dave Hodges (Llanelli)
who'll have seasoned campaigners loose forward Dan Lyle (Bath) and scrumhalf
Kevin Dalzell (Montferrand) to help marshall the troops.
If selected for the test, veteran lock Luke Gross, who also plays his rugby
with Llanelli, will set a new milestone for an American player by winning
his 47th cap for the Eagles. He's currently tied with former flyer Vaea
Anitoni on 46 appearances for his country.
Another player hoping to get the nod from interim head coach Tom Billups is
fullback Kurt Shuman. The 27 year old New York Athletic Club (NYAC) back has
been a regular member of recent US test teams having made his debut for the
Eagles in 1997.
The game, to be played at Robertson Stadium in Houston, is shaping up to be
the best attended international in the USA since the 1991 match against
Scotland in Hartford, Connecticut.
The events of September 11 have contributed to the match build-up and several events have been included on the program to honor both victims and country.