Bok rotation a little messy

With the rugby World Cup under a year-and-a-half out, the Springboks are building towards the 2023 showpiece event in France.

In their five games so far over the current international season, the Boks have yet to name an unchanged starting 15, with a raft of changes having been made during the Welsh incoming series and two Rugby Championship games against the All Blacks.

However the constant tinkering with the team by coach Jacques Nienaber and his management group looks to be having a detrimental effect and could have a damaging impact on the side heading towards next year’s World Cup.

Giving fringe players game time and testing out a few combinations is understandable in certain games, like it was in the second Test against Wales, but a core team of starters should be backed in most games.

A lot has been said about the decision not to start Malcolm Marx in the second Test against the All Blacks after his box office Man-of-the-Match display in the first Test.

Marx is arguably the best hooker in the world right now, and there were already questions about Bongi Mbonambi starting ahead of him, but the decision to start Joseph Dweba after Mbonambi picked up and injury, backfired spectacularly on the coaching staff, as he was hauled off after just 29 minutes.

In fact the revolving frontranker door in general must be a pain for players as every single match there is a change in the front row, with props rotating in and out of the match-23 constantly.

Surely the team management must have an idea of who their best starting and bench combinations are and back them for the majority of games.

The backline has also become a bit of a mess this season, with the management’s over-reliance on utility players becoming a hindrance, due to a number of injuries suffered early in the game.

In two of ththe matches it triggered a host of changes in the backline – with fullback moving to flyhalf, flyhalf to centre, centre to wing – instead of just simply being able to make just one change.