Bok style to be guided by SA teams

For South African rugby ,this year’s Super Rugby competition could take on a whole new meaning. Apart from the fact that the competition has yet again been trimmed down to 15 teams, local players will no doubt be eager to make an early impression on national director of rugby Rassie Erasmus.

And while it hasn’t yet been confirmed whether Erasmus will take on the role as Bok coach as well, the new coach will be answerable to Erasmus – if he doesn’t end up doing the job himself.

But Erasmus has stressed that time is limited with the Boks only due to play 18 more Tests before the World Cup starts in Japan next year.

One almost feels the last two years under former coach Allister Coetzee have been a waste if the national team again have to start under a new coach with half of the time gone between the four-year cycle between World Cups.

It was therefore uplifting that Saru president Mark Alexander said the two years that havegone by haven’t been a complete waste of time as the new coach could just carry on with the building blocks that have been established.

What it does mean is that when England arrive in June we will be faced with a situation where we start a home series as the clear underdogs – after all, England are ranked No 2 in the world while the Boks were lucky during their time of inactivity to climb from sixth to fifth.

But it does seem that Erasmus wouldn’t pick a completely new team for the June series with players like Marx, Etzebeth, Kolisi and Whiteley forming the basis of the side.

There are, however, definite spots in the team where it could be strengthened – on the wing, tighthead and loose forward where the introduction of overseas players like Francois Louw and Duane Vermeulen made a positive difference the end of last year.

And while everyone remained in the dark after the last two years about exactly what gameplan the Boks were following, Erasmus said he will take on the gameplan of the best Super Rugby side.

In other words, if it is the Lions, the Boks will play like the Lions with a few tweaks here and here.

After all, Test match rugby is a step up from Super Rugby.

Cheers to new beginnings – again, I must add.