Focus on Rassie’s picks
SQUAD ANNOUNCEMENT: SOME ANXIETY AHEAD OF NEW COACH’S DECISION
New faces expected to crack the nod for June Tests.
With plenty of anticipation ahead of coach Rassie Erasmus’ first Springbok squad announcement of the year tonight, there will be a few anxious hours of wait for the aspiring group.
It is expected new faces like Bulls wing Travis Ismaiel, Lions wing Aphiwe Dyantyi, Bulls scrumhalf Embrose Papier and Sharks hooker Akker van der Merwe could be some of the big calls Erasmus could make.
One player who is taking it in his stride is Lions fullback Andries Coetzee who played in all 14 Tests last season, but his place could be in the balance after sterling performances from Warrick Gelant for the Bulls and Willie le Roux for Wasps.
“We will have to see after our game (against the Stormers at Newlands today) who will form part of Rassie’s plans,” said Coetzee this week.
With the Lions backline not yet performing the way they did over the past two seasons, the shares of players like Coetzee and centres Lionel Mapoe and Rohan Janse van Rensburg have taken a dip.
“Regarding my personal form I believe one can always improve and when you get that great opportunity it’s always a big honour,” he said.
“But further than that I’m just focused on my own performance and to let the guys around me look good.”
Ahead of this afternoon’s battle, Coetzee believes they have approached the defensive issues which have hampered their progress.
“Defence is the perfect way to launch an attack and get the ball back. We’ve noticed where we are lacking on defence and we have worked on it,” he said.
“We have focused on it and we realised there will be mistakes but the important part is to back each other.”
Coetzee said they don’t be- lieve their long unbeaten record against fellow SA teams has become a monkey on their backs.
“We haven’t focused on the fact that we haven’t lost a local derby for some time, we still go in with the same mindset,” he said.
“So we know we can’t lack in any game as we saw with the results in the competition, so we have to go in with full force from the first minute and can’t afford to relax in any stage of the game.”
WHeinz Schenk
hen Rassie Erasmus announces his first Springbok squad tonight, there’s just one item he needs to tick off: make Siya Kolisi his captain.
It’s no use trying to be diplomatic when you’re the national team coach nowadays.
You simply have to play the political game.
And Erasmus can save himself a lot of headaches by installing the Stormers captain as Warren Whiteley’s (and I suppose Eben Etzebeth’s) replacement.
It will undoubtedly remove a sizeable chunk of the pressure off him in terms of South African rugby’s transformation drive, which is complicated by the fact that the franchises aren’t exactly giving him a conveyor belt to choose from.
But with Kolisi there’s far more to his credentials as a captain than mere representation. Take a look around the country. Who else is there?
Sharks captain, lock Ruan Botha, is a good player, but he can’t be guaranteed a starting spot, even with Etzebeth and Lood de Jager being injured.
Franco Mostert has done a job for the Lions and yet there’s still the suspicion that the side lacks a focused leader to keep a team that generally relies on instinct intact.
Erasmus is apparently really keen on Handre Pollard. He undoubtedly likes responsibility but I’m not sure if he should be burdened with the national captaincy.
The Springboks need him more to be a commanding pivot at international level than his leadership. So, one is left with Kolisi. And “left” is a pretty poor word in his case anyway – 2017 did a lot for the versatile loose forward.
It was the year in which doubts over his suitability as an international player evaporated.
Kolisi is more than good enough for this level, especially if we can lose this obsessive misconception that he’s someone who is a breakdown specialist.
He’s a ball-carrier – a dynamic one at times – and a hard tackler. Don’t shackle him to some sort of fetcher role. That’s not who Kolisi is.
He wears his heart on his sleeve and is committed to his country.
And even if his form has been off-colour for the Stormers to date, I can’t help but think it’s because of some inferior guidance in general.
Sometimes a player just needs the boost of faith from the national coach to make them soar.
So, just get on with it, Rassie.