Pollard has made tremendous strides since re-joining Boks, says Coetzee
SPRINGBOK coach Allister Coetzee says Handre Pollard’s progress since recovering from injury gives him “a lot of confidence” in selecting the flyhalf for the Australasian leg of the Rugby Championship.
Pollard, who comes into the touring group in the place of Curwin Bosch – who was released to the Sharks for Currie Cup duty – was yesterday named in Coetzee’s squad after taking part in team training over the last couple of weeks.
Pollard has accumulated 20 Test appearances since making his international debut in 2014, but he has played very little rugby in the last 16 months due to ankle and knee injuries that have kept him out.
And after the team’s arrival at Cape Town International Airport yesterday, Coetzee said that he was “tempted to select him” for their Championship-opening match against Argentina in Port Elizabeth already.
“Handre has made tremendous strides since he joined us in Stellenbosch and the two weeks in Port Elizabeth – I was tempted to select him then,” Coetzee said.
“But I thought another week with regards to his conditioning, his out-of-hand kicking and his kicking to posts (would be good) … we’ll see on Friday.
“Sometimes people say ‘why doesn’t he play Currie Cup’. Our intensity at which we train is higher than match-intensity and there’s the physical component as well. The way he’s responded gives me a lot of confidence to select him.”
Pollard’s inclusion, and the fact that Coetzee seemed very pleased to welcome the 23-yearold back into the squad, places a huge question mark over the role of Elton Jantjies at flyhalf.
The Lions playmaker had a good outing in PE and an even better one in Salta as he controlled the game well and added a few great touches to claim the Man-of-the-Match award.
Coetzee also said that he was excited to see Bosch, who made his debut off the bench at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, apply with the Sharks what he’s learned while in the Bok camp.
“We will have to manage Bosch correctly. He will play for the Springboks for a very long time … he’s done well. I’d like to see the confidence he’ll take back to the Sharks,” Coetzee said.
“Continuity is crucial, but a couple of minutes and the weeks he’s been with the Springboks. You can see the confidence oozing out of the youngster and he’s learned a helluva lot.
“If there’s an injury. I won’t have any problems selecting him (Bosch) again.”
In-form Stormers back Dillyn Leyds has also been recalled back into the Bok set-up to replace Cheetahs centre Francois Venter, while fitagain scrumhalf Ross Cronje is also back in the mix in the place of Jano Vermaak, who was called up when Cronje was ruled out of the second Test against Argentina due to injury.
And although Coetzee seems to have opted for continuity, he added that the Championship squad is not set in stone.
“Dillyn Leyds is back again – the guys go back to Currie Cup and they perform, and that’s what we want to see. So once a guy’s out of a leg it doesn’t mean he’s out of the squad completely. Things can change in a week,” Coetzee said.
“The competition is healthy at the moment, the team is in a good place.”
Meanwhile, the Boks will know the full extent of the rib injury to Coenie Oosthuizen today as the prop – who produced a massive, Man-of-theMatch performance in PE, underwent scans yesterday.
It is also understood that Lions prop Ruan Dreyer is likely to feature for the Golden Lions this weekend, despite being named in the squad for the Australasian leg of the competition.
In terms of their preparation, Coetzee also said that one of the biggest goals from here on is to build on what they’ve achieved so far in their five wins in five matches this year.
“I feel comfortable with the preparation we’ve done, all areas of our game has improved, and we’ve just got to keep up with the effort that we’ve put in, in terms of our intensity and our work rate,” he said.
“We’re looking at this as three phases, and phase one has just been completed – which was the home and the away legs (against Argentina). We’re very happy with the result in Salta.”
The Bok coach was also wary of an Australian side that has shown a lot of improvement since last year – which was evident in their 36-29 defeat to the All Blacks at the weekend.
“It’s a different beast waiting that side (Australia). It’s always tough going to Australia and (facing) the way they play, they’re reaching form as well. The team that played against the All Blacks are really improving. They made a couple of mistakes in the first game, they got punished for it and they put New Zealand under pressure in the second Test,” Coetzee said.