No easy return for Springboks
Recovered Whiteley and Marx face competition
Warren Whiteley‚ the national captain before he was injured‚ and Malcolm Marx‚ one of the most influential hookers on the planet before he tore a hamstring‚ will walk into a vastly different Springbok set-up when they return in the Rugby Championships in August. Whiteley and Marx‚ having recovered from injury‚ are available for selection for the Golden Lions XV’s SuperSport Challenge clash against the Blue Bulls at Loftus this weekend. Both were Springbok firstchoice selections when injury came knocking‚ but the winds of change have gusted under new coach Rassie Erasmus.
The saying about being out of sight remains one of professional sport’s enduring truisms.
Whiteley’s last test was a year ago when the Boks clashed with France in Durban, and groin and abdominalrelated injuries brought a shuddering halt to his season.
The Boks had made a bright start to the season in the first two tests‚ and who knows if, with him at the helm‚ the team’s season might have taken a different course.
He regained fitness for Super Rugby and was slowly getting up to speed when he injured a cruciate knee ligament in the Lions’ defeat to the Blues at Ellis Park on March 10.
The Lions’ season has gone backwards since.
With Whiteley unavailable for this month’s tests‚ Erasmus was keen to see what Duane Vermeulen had left in the tank after three brutal seasons with Toulon.
Vermeulen‚ perhaps predictably‚ was up to the challenge and his impact in the series has been immense.
The No 8’s availability to the Bok cause for the Rugby Championships and the remainder of the season, however, is in doubt as he ties himself to a new club deal.
That may help smooth Whiteley’s passage back into the starting team.
Marx last played for the Boks in the last match of their end-of-year tour against Wales last year.
He made a storming start to the Lions’ Super Rugby season before he had to yield to a high-grade hamstring tendon tear in the Lions’ defeat to the Hurricanes in Wellington in the first week of last month.
The prognosis put his recovery time at six weeks and in his absence Bongi Mbonambi has steadily grown into his role in the middle of the scrum after also recovering from injury in Super Rugby.