Snyman beefs up Blitzboks’ leadership in Las Vegas
IT was at this very juncture last season that the Springbok Sevens put daylight between themselves and the chasing pack in the World Sevens Series.
And they will look to do the same this weekend in Las Vegas where their gambles of throwing in youngsters paid off richly last year as they walked away with yet another tournament win at the Sam Boyd Stadium.
It is in the US desert city where the Blitzboks must make sure that their adversaries’ fortunes remain dry and barren while banking their chips in anticipation for the jackpot at the end of the series.
What has severely hampered the South Africans at the beginning of this season is their inability to have the same success rate as last season.
Then they were dominant on the standings after winning three of the first four tournaments.
The Blitzboks will go into the weekend with only one tournament win this season, and that was at the end of last year in Dubai. They have remained top of the standings because of their consistency – they finished third in Cape Town and were losing finalists in Sydney (January 28) and Hamilton (February 4).
The last two tournaments in Australia and New Zealand were bitter-sweet for Neil Powell’s men as they lost valuable experience through injuries, but they nevertheless maned to make up on the ground lost in their home tournament.
Even though the Blitzboks had to endure the pain of losing in the final twice, it was the vital 38 points they picked up against Australia and Fiji in consecutive finals that saw them able to catapult themselves back to the top of the table on 77 points.
But with the series still so tightly contested and second-placed New Zealand on 69 points, third-placed Fiji (62 points) and then Australia (60 points), it will be vital that the men in green and gold don’t just rely on gambler’s luck. Each of he top four sides has won a tournament this season.
“We had some luck in the past and I’m not sure why we tend to be so successful in Las Vegas, but that means nothing this time around,” said Powell.
Fortunately for Powell there will be some old heads within his squad to bolster the excitement and riches that come with the youthful talent especially that of tournament debutants such as Ryan Oosthuizen, Muller du Plessis and Selvyn Davids, who has already seen some action for the Blitzboks.
The presence of captain Philip Snyman will not only beef up their leadership but also bring about normality to a side that has looked disjointed when in dire need of the trademark unity to see them be the last team standing.
“Generally, we have a pretty experienced squad. Although Ryan, Selvyn and Muller are new to Vegas, they are not new to the system, so it should not be an issue,” said Powell.
The Blitzboks kick off their title defence in the desert against Wales early tomorrow morning (3.34am SA time) followed by Canada (6.35am) and then England on Sunday (12.10am) to finish off their pool matches. SP MARAIS’ fitness could influence the Stormers’ game against the Crusaders in Christchurch tomorrow (8.35am kickoff ). And it could be a very heavy influence at that.
In the midst of another injury situation that will keep first-choice flyhalf Damian Willemse out of action after he suffered a haematoma to his quad against the Waratahs in Sydney, Dillyn Leyds has been named at No 10 for the Stormers’ second match on tour. But it could be George Whitehead running out in the position of the general in New Zealand.
Head coach Robbie Fleck yesterday confirmed that Marais – who was named at fullback – suffered a knock during training yesterday and that they would make a call on his availability today.
Should Marais not be fit, Leyds will move to fullback in the place of Marais, while Whitehead stands in at No 10.
Leyds filled in at flyhalf on tour to New Zealand last year following injury to Robert du Preez, and he also played in the No 10 jersey against the Blues after that tour.
And when asked about Leyds’ selection at flyhalf, Fleck said: “He played for us last year against the Blues when we won at home, so he’s done a good job for us in the past there.
“With Dillyn’s experience, even though George has done extremely well during the warm-up games and when he came on, we felt that it will make a difference at 10. We just felt Dillyn is the right man for the job.
“SP Marais took a knock during training today, so there’s question marks in the air. We’re going to make a call on SP tomorrow (today) and should he not be available we’re going to have to reshuffle again.
“If SP is out, George Whitehead will come back into the starting line-up and take the kicking duties, otherwise Dewaldt (Duvenage) will have to kick at goal.”
In other changes to the backline, Seabelo Senatla returns to the matchday squad to take Leyds’ place on the wing, while EW Viljoen will start at outside centre in the place of the injured JJ Engelbrecht.
Up front, loosehead prop JC Janse van Rensburg comes in for Steven Kitshoff, as the Springbok prop drops to the bench.
The other change to the pack sees Cobus Wiese return to the starting line-up at blindside flank, while Kobus van Dyk will provide cover on the bench.
With everything that Kitshoff offers, I’d say he isn’t the type of player that should be benched if not necessary. But given the fact that the Crusaders are masters at performing for 80-plus minutes and have the ability to produce firing performances in the last quarter, having someone like Kitshoff – who’s been superb as an impact player for the Boks – on the bench isn’t a bad call, especially seeing that Janse van Rensburg was massive in his scrummaging when he came on against the Jaguares.
“The Crusaders are strong finishers, as we saw last week when they put 45 on the Chiefs, so it’s good to have an experienced and mobile guy like Kitshoff to provide impact off the bench,” Fleck said about the rotation in the front row.
Fleck also explained that Wiese’s physical presence would make a good addition to the team tomorrow, after he missed out on a starting berth last week.
“The Crusaders are known for their scrums and their lineouts, they’ve got a good tight five that will put you under pressure. So we felt that Cobus is better suited in that role. There’s certainly going to be a lot of battles up front,” he said.
And after a disappointing loss to the Waratahs at the Sydney Football Stadium, Fleck said the side was excited to go up against the defending champions.
“We’re going out there to get as many points as we can on tour and we certainly know the challenge that the Crusaders will bring. But we’re excited and it’s a good challenge for our boys,” Fleck said.
“We’re looking to challenge the best teams in the competition consistently. This gives us an opportunity to challenge the defending champions in their own backyard.
“They don’t make a lot of mistakes and there’s nothing fancy about them – it’s just good, honest hard work. They work hard for each other and they’ve got a great culture. They probably have the best defence in the competition. They do the fundamentals of rugby extremely well, and that’s why they’re the champions. They don’t have a lot of weaknesses.
“Every team wants to go out there and get one over them and we’re certainly one of those teams and we’re looking forward to Saturday night.”
One thing you know for certain when the Bulls and Lions clash is the scrums will be big, powerful and full of mongrel. And both teams will know exactly how crucial it’s going to be to be the dominant force … because the team that wins the scrum battle will most probably win more penalties and enjoy greater field position; that’s the modern game.
The Lions trio of Ruan Dreyer, Malcolm Marx and Jacques van Rooyen are seasoned operators with tons of experience and have started the 2018 season with a bang. So far in their two games against the Sharks and Jaguares the Lions have won 15 out of 18 scrums, and that doesn’t include the penalties they’ve won in that department. The Bulls did well, too. In their only game up to now, against the Hurricanes last week, they won six of seven scrum feeds and they look a strong unit, but they’ll face an altogether different test this weekend. Referee Marius van der Westhuizen faces a big test, too, by having to make the right calls, which are not always obvious in the front row.
The Lions have played a bit of a wild card this week by selecting regular No 5 lock Franco Mostert at blindside flank, and pulling former Bulls man Marvin Orie into the second row, thus strengthening their lineout options. And with Andries Ferreira fit and firing again, the visitors to Pretoria have three excellent options to win lineout ball for them, something that hasn’t worked as well for them so far this year.
Missed throws by Malcolm Marx (six in total) nearly proved costly in their two previous games and the Lions will hope the department functions far better this week. For the Bulls, RG Snyman and Lood de Jager were in sensational form a week ago against the highly fancied Hurricanes and they’ll be dead keen to continue that kind of form against their neighbours, with all the locks on show in the running for higher honours later this year.
Bulls hookers Jaco Visagie and the experienced Adriaan Strauss face a big test of their throwing-in credentials. The home team missed just one throw-in last week so they’ll be confident of another good showing though. It promises to be a fascinating showdown.