Rugby Championship
Boks add two to Rugby Championship squad
ESPN Staff
August 28, 2013
Chiliboy Ralepelle is currently recovering from a back injury but should travel to Australia © Getty Images
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South Africa coach Heyneke Meyer has drafted in Zane Kirchner and Chiliboy Ralepelle for their Rugby Championship matches in Australia and New Zealand.

The Boks are currently two from two in the competition and will play Australia in Brisbane on September 7 and will then play the All Blacks a week later in Auckland. Meyer has retained the 26-man squad that travelled to Argentina for the second Test, a match they won 22-17, and has added to his options with Leinster-bound fullback Kirchner and hooker Ralepelle, who has signed for Toulouse.

"This will be two tough weeks on the road against two of the best sides in the world and as we saw last weekend against Argentina, we still have a lot of hard work to do," Meyer said. "The Springboks have never beaten Australia at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane and our last victory at Eden Park was in 1937.

"Australia may have lost their first two matches of the Rugby Championship, but they showed a marked improvement last weekend in Wellington. They are always a tough opponent at home - the Springboks' last victory over there was in 2009 and we've only won three out of 18 matches in this competition in Australia.

"We get together on Thursday and will have to put in a lot of hard work in the next 10 days. We let ourselves down in certain areas of the game in Mendoza and will have to fix those if we are going to be competitive against Australia."

South Africa squad:

Forwards (16): Lourens Adriaanse, Willem Alberts, Marcell Coetzee, Bismarck du Plessis, Jannie du Plessis, Eben Etzebeth, Siya Kolisi, Juandré Kruger, Francois Louw, Tendai Mtawarira, Coenie Oosthuizen, Chiliboy Ralepelle, Gurthrö Steenkamp, Adriaan Strauss, Flip van der Merwe, Duane Vermeulen.

Backs (12): Bjorn Basson, Jean de Villiers (captain), JJ Engelbrecht, Bryan Habana, Zane Kirchner, Patrick Lambie, Willie le Roux, Ruan Pienaar, Jan Serfontein, Morné Steyn, Piet van Zyl, Jano Vermaak.

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