Forget sentiment, it’s form that counts

Former Bok skipper Pienaar gives Meyer some frank advice

SOUTH Africa’s first World Cup-winning captain Francois Pienaar has suggested that coach Heyneke Meyer should pick his World Cup squad on form rather than sentiment.

Meyer is due to announce a 31man squad for the showpiece in England in September and October on Friday and will have some tough choices to make.

There are numerous injured players, in the frame for selection, who are unlikely to be fully fit at the time of making the announcement, which has muddied the selection waters.

One of those is skipper Jean de Villiers, who has a fractured jaw and almost certainly won’t be ready for the opener against Japan on September 19. De Villiers has also only played 240 minutes of rugby in 10 months following a severe knee injury.

“You have to look at form and if you don’t pick players who are not in form for a World Cup, you are going to come unstuck,” Pienaar warned.

“Look at the Cricket World Cup, Quinton de Kock, the most talented batsman in SA, was injured before the tournament, was picked but was out of form.

“The pressure on that poor kid mounted with each innings and it was wrong. He went into a spiral and couldn’t find form. Now he has just scored three consecutive centuries in India.

“If you don’t pick players in form, you can’t pray for it and hope players will find it on a Tuesday afternoon when it’s needed. That’s not going to work.”

Ideally, coaches would want to name squads with fully-fit players, but Meyer would still have three weeks after the squad announcement before the opening game. Also, the tournament is nearly seven weeks long, which allows injured players some time to recover and be ready for the knockout stages.

Influential eighthman Duane Vermeulen had neck surgery six weeks ago and is also in a race against time to be fit. He has been a crucial member of the squad over the past three seasons and missing out on the tournament would be a huge blow for the Boks.

In 2007 captain John Smit was not fully fit when the squad was announced, but he played himself into fitness and famously led the Boks to their second title.

“Unfortunately for Heyneke the wrong guys have been injured at the wrong time,” Smit said. “No one will have the answer on whether picking players who aren’t fully fit was the right call until afterwards.

“Jake White took a gamble on me because when I tore my hamstring against Australia just before the World Cup, I was in trouble. I couldn’t even jog in the days leading up to the tournament.

“I strapped it tight and by the time of the final, I didn’t need to strap it. Those are the risks that a coach might have to take sometimes. Sometimes they work out.”

Unfortunately for Heyneke the wrong guys have been injured at the wrong time