Marcell Coetzee on dropping out of Springbok mix: 'They clearly back the guys they have'

Bulls captain Marcell Coetzee remained level-headed about his latest omission from the Springbok squad after failing to crack the mix for the Rugby Championship.

Coetzee played in the second Test defeat to Wales in Bloemfontein before being cast adrift for the upcoming Tests against New Zealand, Australia and Argentina.

Aphelele Fassi was also released, as Springbok head coach Jacques Nienaber, who didn't shut the door on them indefinitely, reasoned that both exclusions were performance related.

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"They clearly back the guys that they have at the moment," Coetzee said on Wednesday night after accepting the Bulls' player of the season award.

"I know where I stand with them, so, if anything happens, I'm more than happy to oblige.

"But I want to wish them all the best for the Test against the All Blacks this weekend. We'll be rooting for them hard."

The Boks face the All Blacks in Mbombela on Saturday (17:05).

South Africa

15 Damian Willemse, 14 Kurt-Lee Arendse, 13 Lukhanyo Am, 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Makazole Mapimpi, 10 Handre Pollard, 9 Faf de Klerk, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 6 Siya Kolisi (captain), 5 Lood de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Frans Malherbe, 2 Malcolm Marx, 1 Trevor Nyakane

Substitutes: 16 Bongi Mbonambi, 17 Steven Kitshoff, 18 Vincent Koch, 19 Salmaan Moerat, 20 Franco Mostert, 21 Kwagga Smith, 22 Jaden Hendrikse, 23 Willie le Roux

New Zealand

15 Jordie Barrett, 14 Will Jordan, 13 Rieko Ioane, 12 David Havili, 11 Caleb Clarke, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 Aaron Smith, 8 Ardie Savea, 7 Sam Cane (captain), 6 Akira Ioane, 5 Scott Barrett, 4 Sam Whitelock, 3 Angus Ta'avao, 2 Samisoni Taukei'aho, 1 George Bower

Substitutes: 16