Jannie remains the best man for the No 3 jersey...
Darryn Pollock analyses the Boks’ tighthead dilemma
THERE will be very few people that look back at the parody video of Hitler lambasting Jannie du Plessis’ selection over Vincent Koch for the World Cup with the same humour after the Springbok scrum was dismantled by Argentina in Durban last week. It seems the absence of the 64-cap veteran, rather than anything flashy he has done on the pitch, has reiterated the importance of the man to the South African World Cup campaign.
There has been more criticism than praise levelled at Du Plessis in the last two years, with the 2014 Super Rugby season perhaps the starting point of his demise in the public eye. Under Jake White at the Sharks, brothers Du Plessis had free rein at Kings Park, letting their mouths rather than their rugby do the talking. Captain Bismarck was often backed up by big brother Jannie in verbal altercations with referees and players alike. This was at its most obvious when the blond prop retaliated against referee Lourens van der Merwe’s penalising of his scrumming technique in an infamous incident against the Reds in March 2014.
And 2015 was not much better for the tighthead, or the Sharks for that matter, as their Super Rugby season culminated in a disappointing 11th place finish. However, even after being dismantled by the Lions in 2014, and then the Stormers in their most recent campaign, the Sharks front row of Bismarck, Jannie and Tendai Mtawarira was still picked for the first three Springbok matches of the year. Coach Heyneke Meyer, it seemed, was quite happy to make his front row intentions known.
Groans went up when rising stars like Koch, Steven Kitshoff and Frans Malherbe were made to take a back seat in the Rugby Championship and World XV game while the old front row trundled on... But fast-forward to Durban, August 8. Jannie had suffered a knee injury against New Zealand the week before and was ruled out of the Argentina Test; Meyer selected Stormers ace Koch for his first start at tighthead after only two caps off the bench. Koch is up against arguably one of the best looseheads in the world, Marcos Ayerza, and is subsequently destroyed by the street-wise Argentinian – so much so that he has to make his way to the bench at half-time.
It was at about this time, after referee Romain Poite had penalised Koch for the umpteenth time at the scrum, that many would have wished for a more dependable and familiar blond in the front row. It is easy to forget what a great player Jannie is when he is slipping the odd tackle or being caught offsides, but you need only look at the challengers for the Bok No 3 jersey he has outlasted.
Du Plessis began his national career against Australia in July 2007 in a starting debut; however, he only became the true incumbent tighthead around 2010. In those three years Du Plessis fought it out with CJ van der Linde, BJ Botha, Brian Mujati, and even captain John Smit, who was moulded into a tighthead to accommodate Bismarck at hooker.
Since staking his claim at No 3, there has not been a true challenger in five years. Werner Kruger, Deon Carstens and even Wian du Preez, as well as the above-mentioned, could not unseat the Sharks man leading up to 2012. Under Meyer, Du Plessis has seen off Kruger, Pat Cilliers, Julian Redelinghuys, and has shown he is still miles ahead of current challengers Coenie Oosthuizen, Frans Malherbe, Marcel van der Merwe, and most recently, Koch.
Oosthuizen and Malherbe are probably ones for the future. However, if they cannot overcome their proneness to injury, the Springbok coach may yet be calling the veteran back from his new home in Montpellier after the World Cup.
Du Plessis has been Mr Reliable for Meyer since he took over, starting all but three matches since June 2012. That is not to say that Meyer has turned a blind eye to developing players for the tighthead role.
Others who have fallen by the wayside include Lions prop Redelinghuys, who has been all but forgotten just nine months after his debut, Marcel van der Merwe, who last night faced the same acid test Koch did against Ayerza, and Koch himself, whose career could be over before it has started.
The Test arena is where the toughest players are forged, and the tighthead in the team is your iron man. They should be able to withstand immense heat and pressure, and slowly be moulded into the cornerstone of your team.
It has been said that a tighthead is born, and not made, and Jannie du Plessis is a born tighthead. These young pretenders have a long way to go before they can say they have survived the inferno of international rugby.
Du Plessis’ scrumming has always been dependable, even if it is not awe inspiring, and if you are going into a World Cup, the last thing you want is to be dismantled in the set pieces when you are (or rather, were) the second-best team in the world.