Pollard set to return as SA A face the French

SA ‘A’ coach Johan Ackermann is faced with a pleasant selection headache ahead of his side’s second clash against the French Barbarians at Orlando Stadium on Friday night.

Ackermann is spoilt for riches, especially with a handful of Test players at his disposal as they look to seal a comprehensive 2-0 series win over the Frenchmen.

With Lionel Mapoe and Francois Venter released from the Springbok squad, Ackermann will have to find a balance in using the experience at his disposal with the good form that captain Juan de Jongh and Harold Vorster showed in last week’s win in Durban.

While Mapoe featured prominently for the Springboks against France, he will only have two training sessions with the side before Friday’s match, while Venter could be a serious consideration to start after coming off the bench last week.

Another selection poser will come at flyhalf where Ackermann will be under pressure to give returning Springbok Handre Pollard some game time, but it will be another difficult decision to make with Lionel Cronje and Fred Zeilinga in the best form of their careers.

However, the call to play Pollard – even if it is off the bench – would have come from Springbok coach Allister Coetzee, who is eager to bolster his number 10 stocks.

Pollard has recovered from an ankle injury sustained during Super Rugby, after missing out the whole of last year due to a shoulder and knee injuries.

He made a cameo appearance for the Blue Bulls in the SuperSport Rugby Challenge last weekend and has been roped into the SA ‘A’ squad this week at the insistence of Coetzee.

“I’ve always said that it is an extension of the big group and I won’t go outside of the group. You go through the SA ‘A’ before getting back into the Springbok side and that’s why a guy like Handre has joined the team,” Coetzee said. “I have spoken to Johan (Ackermann) to make sure we get what we would like by encouraging and giving certain players game time there, and see how they perform. The important thing is to make sure that we come away with two wins over the French this weekend.”