Boks sorely need Rohan’s X-factor

The potential solution to the Springbok midfield problems might just by a phone call away. The centre combination of Jan Serfontein and Jesse Kriel is just one of several areas of the Bok game that has come under fire after the Albany debacle of last weekend.

However, Bok coach Allister Coetzee said he is not looking at drastic changes for the Wallaby Test in Bloemfontein next weekend, but rather at improving at the areas where the Boks were exposed by the All Blacks last weekend.

And while Serfontein as an individual has been a cut above the rest, it’s the combination with Kriel that seems to be going through some growing pains.

Kriel’s awareness on attack has come under the microscope while on defence it hasn’t been plain sailing for the midfielder with some calls being made that he is more suitable to the wing or fullback positions.

The problem for the Boks though is that they don’t possess a real game-breaker, a player with X-factor in the mould of Lions midfielder Rohan Janse van Rensburg.

So where do Janse van Rensburg and wing Ruan Combrinck feature in Coetzee’s plans? And for that matter Francois Venter and the underrated Kobus van Wyk?

Janse van Rensburg and Harold Vorster have been the form midfield pairing in the Currie Cup and last weekend Janse van Rensburg underlined his class with his brace against the Bulls at Ellis Park.

But Janse van Rensburg has been plagued by setbacks this year. In April a knee injury put him out of the game for three months. In March he lost his mother to illness and in April he was the victim of a house robbery.

But last weekend he showed he is back in the big league with a Man-of-the-Match performance.

“I’m very humbled by the award and it was great playing next to Harold,” said the stocky centre.

“And obviously on the weekend I played for my mom again and I miss her a lot but I knew at the weekend she would’ve been proud,” he said.

However, the Boks do have the resilience to bounce back and beat the Wallabies next weekend.

Their weaknesses will probably not be exposed by the Aussies the way the All Blacks managed to do it.

The week after that, when the All Blacks return to Newlands, will give a clearer indication.