Mixed bag for Boks ahead of Pumas Test
THERE were several important things Springbok coach Heyneke Meyer said yesterday. But three of them took precedence.
Jaque Fourie’s availability for the World Cup is in serious doubt; young gun Jesse Kriel has booked his place in the 31-man squad unless the fates decide otherwise; and Jean de Villiers returns.
De Villiers’s return is one of two changes from the starting team that lost to the All Blacks two weeks ago, with Vincent Koch filling in for the injured Jannie du Plessis.
Apart from these two changes, Meyer has stuck to the team that met the All Blacks with the retention of locks Eben Etzebeth and Lood de Jager and will hope to emerge victorious against Argentina’s Pumas on Saturday.
Kriel forms part of an exciting new back three with Willie le Roux and Bryan Habana, even though a versatile aerial expert, Lwazi Mvovo, is on the bench.
Ruan Pienaar stays at scrumhalf with Cobus Reinach as his bench deputy while Koch’s move to the starting 15 pushes Marcel van der Merwe onto the bench with Trevor Nyakane and Adriaan Strauss
Inside centre may be de Villiers’s preferred position but the captain’s shift to 13 on his Test return is the clearest indication that the Boks are planning for the showpiece without Fourie.
Kriel’s versatility means Meyer feels comfortable moving him to right wing in place of Cornal Hendricks and Handré Pollard starting ahead of Patrick Lambie is Meyer’s clearest sign of who his No 1 flyhalf is going into the World Cup.
Meyer’s openness with regard to Fourie’s absence was surprising but he said Pollard’s start — despite the concussion cloud that hung over him — was a pressure decision as the Boks needed to beat Argentina at King’s Park on Saturday.
“Jaque will probably not be available but he is on standby. We do want to pick him but at this stage with the club and the commitments, Jesse has come through very well.
“Damian de Allende can play 13 even though his preferred position is 12 but Jean can also play 13 and we’ve also got Jan, who was awesome last year,” Meyer said.
“It’s been the toughest week for me as Bok coach because you have 40 players who all want to play.
“It is not the ideal situation because you need some friendly games because a guy like Morné (Steyn) was close to the team as well and he won’t be available next week, which means he won’t get a chance and he would have wanted to play himself into contention.
“Pat hasn’t played a lot of rugby but I still felt that we still have to win the Test and Pollard is starting to get back into form.”
The composition of Meyer’s pack is not as surprising as Fourie du Preez’s fitness-related absence, but such is his confidence in PieterSteph du Toit’s abilities, he has seen fit to include him on the bench despite one pre-Currie Cup hit-out against the Golden Lions last Friday evening.
Du Toit missed the best part of the Super Rugby season to a knee injury suffered against the Cheetahs early in the tournament, while the equally versatile Siya Kolisi finds himself on the bench. Marcell Coetzee and Heinrich Brüssow are expected to build on their aboveaverage performance.
Koch will make his first run-on start after coming off the bench against the All Blacks.
“I could have had Warren Whiteley on the bench but he got injured in the previous Test, which made it a bit difficult for me to include him but Siya has come a long way. He’s had some injuries to deal with but he’s shown some good form for the Stormers.”
SPRINGBOK SQUAD
15 Willie le Roux, 14 Jesse Kriel, 13 Jean de Villiers (captain), 12 Damian de Allende, 11 Bryan Habana, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Ruan Pienaar, 8 Schalk Burger, 7 Marcell Coetzee, 6 Heinrich Brüssow, 5 Lodewyk de Jager, 4 Eben Etzebeth, 3 Vincent Koch, 2 Bismarck du Plessis, 1 Tendai Mtawarira
Replacements: 16 Adriaan Strauss, 17 Trevor Nyakane, 18 Marcel van der Merwe, 19 Pieter-Steph du Toit, 20 Siya Kolisi, 21 Cobus Reinach, 22 Pat Lambie, 23 Lwazi Mvovo