The Springboks have thrown down the gauntlet for this year's World Rugby Classic, naming a squad that includes big names such as Percy Montgomery, Joel Stransky, and Os Du Rant.

Beaten in last year's final by the Classic Lions, the Springboks have named a squad that could still give some Test teams a run for their money.

The South Africans are already looking like one of the strongest teams in the tournament. Former Springbok skipper Bobby Skinstad returns for another a year and will be accompanied by the likes of Andre Venter, Corne Krige, Breyton Pulse and Ollie le Roux.

Between them the squad have won the World Cup on two seperate occasions (1995 and 2007), made more than 400 international appearances for the Springboks and, in Montgomery, include one of the greats of the modern game.

They also have, in Stransky, a man who made kicking extra-time drop goals to win the World Cup famous long before Johnny Wilkinson did it.

It is fitting that in the year that the Lions return to South Africa since they last toured the country in 1997, Du Randt should once again be linked with a Springboks squad, albeit made up of former players.

The legendary 266-lb prop, a poster boy for Afrikanns machoism at the time, was involved in the semi-final moment from that 1997 tour. And for Lions fans it is one they will never forget.

It was the second Test in Durban, in the middle of a brutal tour when bone crunching hits, a liberal use of the boot, and an intensity on the field that has rarely been matched since, were the norm.

Welshman Scott Gibbs put in a thundering tackle on Du Randt that knocked the prop backwards with such force it drove the wind out of him. It was a hit that has gone down in rugby legend as the turning point of the tour. Already 1-0 up in the three-match series, the tackle is said to have 'single-handedly' ended the Springboks' hopes of winning the series, which the Lions went on to win 2-1.

While Gibbs wont be playing in November, the Classic Lions will be back to defend the title they took from the Springboks last year, and they too have made an early statement of intent.

Mark Regan and Colin Charvis have been named in their initial squad alongside Irishmen John Bell and Anthony Foley. Shane Byrne and Barry Williams are also due to return.

There are also suggestions that English international and World Cup winner Mike Catt might make an appearance at the annual rugby festival, but with the tournament still five months away and Catt's club, London Irish, facing a possible injury crisis, it is too early to say for definite if the World Cup winner will be able to play.