Blooding new Boks

THE Springboks will begin their final preparations for the 2015 Rugby World Cup tomorrow as a World XV lie in wait to take on the two-time world champions at Newlands.

Injuries aside, there will be plenty of couch coaches who will have already decried coach Heyneke Meyer’s selection.

He appears to have again favoured size over excitement, and experience over youth.

Some may defend Meyer’s selection, saying he is relying on the tried and tested players – many of whom have already won a Rugby World Cup.

But tried and tested could easily translate to stale and stagnant.

Victor Matfield leads the Springboks tomorrow. A veteran of the game, hard-man Matfield is on the wrong side of 38.

Schalk Burger and Jean de Villiers feature in the matchday 22, as do JP Pietersen, Bryan Habana and the Du Plessis brothers Bismarck and Jannie – all excellent players but also veterans of more than one World Cup campaign.

There’s a saying that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, and it’s clear that Meyer will neither roll over, nor take a risk by playing fetch.

So the Springboks will likely continue playing the kind of risk-free rugby that isn’t very entertaining to watch.

Whether this kind of rugby guarantees results is also questionable.

In addition, the Bok squad has only one backline player, Damian de Allende, from the Stormers’ current campaign that saw them top the South African log as the only Super Rugby franchise that made the play-offs.

None of the Stormers’ exciting backline players – like Cheslin Kolbe, Seabelo Senatla and Dillyn Leyds – even made it into the training squad.

IT TAKES a special dynamic and blend of players to win a Rugby World Cup. There are a few Tests, including the Rugby Championships, where Meyer should experiment with explosive young players that could set the Rugby World Cup alight.

We know what Habana, Pietersen, Matfield and other Bok legends can do. But what does Meyer have to lose by testing fresh new talent?