Amazing to lead Boks – Whiteley

THE obvious question right now is: if Adriaan Strauss is not going to be playing Test rugby from next year, what is the point of him still being in the team? And still being captain?

Strauss’ announcement late on Thursday that he would retire from Test rugby at the end of this season has surprised many rugby followers, and possibly many of the players’ teammates, too, but apparently not coach Allister Coetzee.

The 30-year-old, who was named team leader for the year before the Ireland series in June, had apparently told Coetzee he was thinking about quitting international rugby at the end of the season.

That may be, but one has to wonder whether the pressure on Strauss since becoming captain has maybe won the day and that the Bulls captain is perhaps just fed-up and had enough of the criticism and pressures that go with being a Bok captain.

Or – and there have been a few rumours going around – Strauss was asked to step aside following his lack of form this year. If that is the case then it would be no surprise if the Bok hooker decided he’d rather quit than be dropped.

Either way and whatever the reasons, Strauss will not be part of the Bok set-up post this season. It means Coetzee is now looking for a new team leader and it would be no surprise if Lions No 8 Warren Whiteley, got the nod.

He’s done a fantastic job helping turn around the Lions in the last three to four years and if the bulk of the Bok squad are to be Lions players going forward – and the team is to adopt a playing style similar to that of the Lions – then Whiteley is the obvious choice.

It’s also a position he’s desperate to take on. “I can’t deny I don’t think about it,” said Whiteley recently.

“The captaincy of the national team is something everyone dreams about. But reality kicks in and it’s almost a scenario of, ‘no ways, it can’t happen’.

“But I do have that inkling; I imagine how amazing that would be. But I’ve said before, you have to be the best in your position, you need to prove yourself, you need to be a starter, you need to inspire (players around you).

“First and foremost I have to establish myself internationally, do the job there, and then the rest can take care of itself.”

Well, Strauss’s decision may force Coetzee to make a call on the captaincy sooner than expected… perhaps as soon as the coming week. The Boks are in Brisbane preparing for next Saturday’s Rugby Championship Test against the Wallabies and Whiteley may well be at the helm by then – if he’s the man Coetzee wants to lead the team going forward.

The other candidates, of course, include Duane Vermeulen, who, when fit, will challenge Whiteley for the No 8 jersey, and Pat Lambie, but he is sidelined with concussion.

Other options may be Juan de Jongh, Handré Pollard and Oupa Mohoje, but none of them, like Whiteley, is guaranteed his place in the team.

Strauss, though, may well be kept in the hot seat for now, especially as the under-performing Boks need as much stability as possible.

Then again, Strauss’s form has been down this season and the inclusion of Bongi Mbonambi and Malcolm Marx in the match-day squad could boost the Boks significantly. Besides the situation around Strauss, the Bok boss has to find a new right wing in place of the injured Ruan Combrinck and may also have to find a flyhalf if Elton Jantjies doesn’t recover in time from a sore groin.

Also, will the likes of De Jongh, Jaco Kriel, Steven Kitshoff and Pieter-Steph du Toit get a start next Saturday?