Cronje will not go to Australia with the Springboks

Blue Bulls lock Geo Cronje and Western Province lock Quinton Davids have both been omitted after the alleged racist incident at the Springbok training camp in Pretoria.

Cronje, who is white, was expelled from the squad after he allegedly refused to share a room with Davids, who is black.

Cronje escapes racism charges

The South African rugby authorities subsequently cleared the 23-year-old Cronje but Boks coach Rudolf Straeuli has decided that he can do without the second-row pair.

There are six black players in the 30-man squad, two more than in 1999, as well as four uncapped players.

In the circumstances the selectors and myself believe this is the best available squad for the challenge of the World Cup Boks coach Rudolf Straeuli

The biggest surprise is the addition of Danie Rossouw, who can play in the second row or the back row.

Rossouw is the only player selected to go to Australia who was not part of the recent training camp in Pretoria.

"Having a loose-forward like Danie (Rossouw) means we can feel comfortable with taking three specialist locks," said Straeuli.

"Danie is equally effective playing loose-forward or lock."

Boks coach Straueli has decided he can do without Davids

Three big names miss out with former captain Bobby Skinstad, exciting utility back Brent Russell and fly-half Andre Pretorius all failing to make the cut because of injuries.

But there is room for veteran scrum-half Joost van der Westhuizen who will become the first South African to play in three World Cups.

The team will be captained by flanker Corne Krige.

"In the circumstances the selectors and myself believe this is the best available squad for the challenge of the World Cup," Straeuli said.

Backs: De Wet Barry, Jean de Villiers, Thinus Delport, Neil de Kock, Jaque Fourie, Werner Greeff, Derick Hougaard, Louis Koen, Ricardo Loubscher, Jorrie Muller, Breyton Paulse, Stefan Terblanche, Joost van der Westhuizen, Ashwin Willemse.
Forwards: Richard Bands, Christo Bezuidenhout, Selborne Boome, Bakkies Botha, Schalk Burger, Danie Coetzee, Corne Krige (captain), Victor Matfield, Faan Rautenbach, Danie Rossouw, Dale Santon, Hendro Scholtz, Juan Smith, John Smit, Lawrence Sephaka, Joe van Niekerk.